Nope, hell not.
Not when you feel you've been in close contact with the Big Man Upstairs all the time.
But then, if you are indeed in close contact with Him, then for sure, you will be given the courage to stand up for what He stands for and sooner than you expect, you've moved on and have learned from your trials.
For the past weeks, calamities have struck us here and there, compounded by man-made 'calamities' in our government, here and there. One could wonder, 'Is this a punishment? What have I done wrong to get punished like this?"
But our God is A GOD OF LOVE. He might be stern from time to time but HE IS A GOD OF LOVE.
A JUST GOD as well.
There are things we can't fathom. Things that is way beyond our understanding. Lord Jesus said, 'What you don't know is not for you to know." This is where faith comes in. Instead of questioning endlessly that fill us with doubt, we got to swim across that ocean of uncertainty and use our faith as our life-saver.
Just this week, I had experience my own personal 'calamity'. A personal property with sentimental value was stolen from me. It blew me away. For the first few minutes, I questioned myself. What have I done wrong? Have I offended someone? Have I done something wrong that weakened my shield against harm?
Am I to distrust the people am working with? It can't be that way. That's gonna burn me in no time. I couldn't find an immediate answer to that and my human nature started setting in. I cried, I wanted to curse the person that had done wrong to me, I couldn't straighten my thinking.
I knew I had to run away to a quiet room and gather myself together. I knew right then and there it was a trial for me. It must be a trial if I will easily give up the new hope I was blessed with, that is, my new family.
I had to run away for a moment.
So I did. I was in the workplace that time and I just had to run to the washroom and say a prayer. I was so afraid of the possibility of me not hearing God at that time just because I was stricken by this 'little' calamity and so I asked for Him to sort of take the wheels just for few hours until I get home.
So I took a back seat and headed home.
In my room, I had a conference with the Big Boss. I wept just because what was stolen from me wasn't really mine. It was from my precious niece who swapped it for my mac, TEMPORARILY. That made me cry, the thought of my niece crying over it. If it was just mine, in a minute or two, am sure over it.
But it wasn't. It belonged to someone I truly truly love and care about. And so, I wept and wept to the Big Boss to help me get over it and find ways to deal with it with my nephew.
After an hour or so, I decided to keep quiet in His presence and let Him do the talking in my heart, just like a child listening intently to her parents, without any clue on whats gonna happen next.
I guess an hour has passed away when suddenly, a thought entered my head on how to make my niece happy despite of the bad news I got for her. It was something that will make us both cheer up and will never even remember probably that we had something valuable stolen from us!
Whoa! That was quick! God drove me in the fourth gear! I knew at that very moment, issue resolved.
And so, I woke up with a big smile on my face. Went to the workplace and got flooded with same question, 'How are you doing?', from workmates who knew what took place the day before.
I never missed the opportunity to glorify God at every answer I uttered. Instead of talking hatred against the person who committed the crime when I feel invoked by my workmates' shared thoughts, I chose to say otherwise. I knew that was one of the purpose of that trial.
At the end of the day, there was another realization. It was for God to show me, in so short a time, how caring also the people in my workplace are. Instead of distrust, He showed me to appreciate their kindness, their concern. One could be bad in a family of many but that shouldn't be a reason go give everyone altogether. That one bad guy can easily be conquered in prayers, and in continuing the spreading of the good word. In God's time, it shall be.
SO YOU SEE, EVEN IN OUR CALAMITIES, BIG OR SMALL, GOD IS PRESENT. HE'S JUST WAITING FOR US TO COME TO HIM, TO HAVE A CONFERENCE WITH HIM, TO TELL HIM THAT YOU INDEED WANT HIS HELP. AND THEN HE'LL SHOWER YOU WITH ALL THAT YOU NEED TO GET OVER THAT CALAMITY, TO MOVE ON, PEACEFUL AND HAPPY IN HIS PRESENCE.
ITS ALL ABOUT FREE WILL. YOU'VE GOT TO WILL HIS HELP. HE IS EVER PRESENT IN OUR MIDST. WATCHING AND WAITING FOR US TO USE OUR FREE WILL TO CHOOSE HIM, TO SEEK HIS HELP.
FOR THAT, WE SHOULD GLORIFY HIM ALL THE TIME! EVEN AMIDST TRIALS, HE IS EVER PRESENT!
FOR THAT, WE SHOULD GLORIFY HIM ALL THE TIME! EVEN AMIDST TRIALS, HE IS EVER PRESENT!