As the
scripture says, “Our sins are like sand in the beach, it’s immeasurable. But no
matter how many times we’ve sinned, God is also like the waves in the beach, He
will wash them (sins) away.” God has walked with me for a very long time; and
He never ceased to impress many people, and I’m one of them.
Human as I am, I have also
experience those times when I forgot to thank Him; the times when I take
everything for granted; the times when I forsake Him for causing me so much
pain. Yet, I came to my senses; I realized that asking Him “WHY?” was a wrong
question when the correct question that I should’ve asked Him was “WHY NOT ME?”
I have always lived a good life even
before I started worshiping God. I have a religious family but I totally
hadn’t grasped the true essence of religion when I was young. I go to church to
sleep or eat during the priest’s sermon. I can completely memorize the “Our
Father”, “Hail Mary”, and “Glory Be” without even breaking a sweat but I don’t
know what it truly states.
During
my high school years, I have found a religious community known as the Youth for
Christ (YFC). At first, I hesitated to join simply because I don’t want to
mingle with the youths in my community. But my father gave me a consequence if
I won’t join YFC and that is, I’M GROUNDED FOR A MONTH; less financial support
for my studies (Can you believe it? And to think, I’m striving to be one of the
Top 10 achievers of our batch) and FASTING. Yep! That’s what I would get if I
won’t join the YFC youth camp. So without any second thought, I packed my
things and got ready for the 3 day youth camp with a burdened heart together
with my sister.
BITTER
is what I can describe myself during those times. I was very reluctant in all the
activities that we had on our first day; all I could wish was to make the days
pass faster. I knew many YFC facilitators but I don’t want to approach them. I
was always sitting on the corner with no words coming out from my mouth. But as
our first topic, “God’s Love and His Plans for Me”, unraveled; I became enthralled
about the topic and on the succeeding topics. Group sharing follows every topic
discussion. It was by then that I compared my life to others; I was very
blessed that I don’t have a broken family; I’m very thankful that my family can
give me a stable financial support; and I’m grateful that my family forced me
to join this community but that’s not the case now. I have come to grow into
God’s loving mercy and lived His ways.
YFC
commitment doesn’t end after youth camp; it only marks the start of your
conviction to God. It’s not easy to walk with God. Walking with Him means great
sacrifices, a hard test in succumbing temptations and a full understanding on
human flaws.
In
almost a year of serving God I have reflected many things. God is God and I am
not. God is bigger than my problems and He’s always greater than my fears. God
alone suffices. My most favorite saying about God is, “Don’t be afraid, just
have faith. Everything happens for a reason.”
