I woke up late this morning and
as I rose from my bed all I was thinking of is getting straight to my laptop to
work. This late I have been greatly anxious about earning money to see the
Wicked Broadway musical before it ends the season next week. Plus, there are
still expenses that I would need to settle. I’m such a workhorse for this whole
month trying to make the ends meet.
After getting out my bed, washing
my face and gurgling, I was hit by the idea that I haven’t opened the bible yet
since last night. I wasn’t able to read because I’ve fallen asleep immediately.
So I calm myself and said that work can wait, and money...money can get your
bank account nourished and your wants satisfied but not your soul. I opened up
my bible to the marked page where I stopped reading the last time.
But I will bless the person who puts his trust in me. He is like a tree
growing near a stream and sending out roots to the water. It is not afraid when
hot weather comes, because its leaves stay green; it has no worries when there
is no rain; it keeps on bearing fruit. – Jeremiah 17 : 7-8
I was greeted by this beautiful
verse from the book of Jeremiah. As I was filled with worry, God sends me His
comforting words. But we could get so unfocused and distracted sometimes that
though we are hearing it we do not fully understand it. Half of me still
wandering somewhere else – I need to do this then I need to do that and so on.
Someone
told me before that we should take time every day, an hour or half to meditate
and empty our mind from everything, as in from everything. We don’t have to do
a thing or think of anything, just empty it out and let your mind relax adrift.
In silence, we will hear the Lord talking to us, we will hear and
understand much clearer what His message is. And this quite works, indeed as soon
as we empty ourselves from all the things that bother, distract and even those things
that excite us, more spaces are given for the Lord to fill in with His words and
messages for us. On such moment that we finally condition ourselves, soothed
down and relax, is the perfect time to open the bible and read the scripture.
By then, we are much focused, with our full attention on His words.
This wouldn’t eat so much of our
time, but we often neglect doing such reflection because we are too caught on the
hurly-burly of life. After reading this morning I closed the bible at once and proceeded to
the kitchen to prepare my breakfast while my father is already preparing to
eat his lunch. I never sit with him in
the dining table but found a place at the other table where my laptop is. I
started on my stuffs with coffee and pandesal on the side. I opened my online
writing account and was glad to see that I have assigned article. I’m a
freelance online writer and often times I have to compete with other writers for the available articles
to grab. It’s always flattering to find out that an article is
assigned to you because this could mean that they want no one to write that
article but you. So I opened it and was surprised to see that I was assigned to
do an article about the Easter Celebration and on how to make it fun-filled and
meaningful especially for the children.
I was hit by the realization that God never stops sending me His
messages until I could finally grasp it. While I was writing about creative
ways that we could make the children learn and understand about Jesus’ journey
to the cross and beyond, I’m eventually forgetting about my fears and worries
which keep on eating me just minutes ago. I’m reminded again that I should
focus not on things that matter only to this world, but on things that matter
on life beyond and that is the Salvation which is given to us through Jesus
Christ who resurrected from the death. After writing the article, I find
myself thinking of ways to spend a meaningful holy week with my family.Once again, I feel relieved with the storm within me already subsiding.
And then I realized that this morning event is God's way of tapping me on the shoulder saying, “You’re getting harsh on yourself again, worrying too much on things, stressing yourself to death. As
long as your trust is in me, you are at your best.” True indeed, because God
never stops giving me my needs. Whenever I need it, He always sends me opportunities
to make the end meets and still with enough quality time to spend with
family and friends. Only that, we must learn to keep balance on everything
because everything that is too much is not good for us. As they say, we don’t
need the excess things on our lives so we got to share those instead of keeping them to ourselves. Let’s keep balance on our lifestyle by having and keeping only what we need because God
assures us that we will never get less than what we deserve as long as we are
putting our trust on Him.
To God be the Glory! Amen!