• Some attractive people even feel inferior because they think people only like them because of their looks and not their personality or other important traits.

2. Achievements aren’t the most important thing.

• Achievements always change. Sometimes you’re up, other times you’re down.
• Although some people have already achieved much, you don’t know if someday, you will even achieve more than they have already achieved. Your potential for achievement may even be greater.

3. Skills aren’t the most important thing because they can be learned.

4. Wealth isn’t the most important thing because they can be gained by means which does not in any way indicate that the person who gained them is far superior than the one who didn’t or chose not to use such means. Also, wealth can be found and it can be lost, it isn’t a permanent indicator of one’s worth. Even wealthy people don’t want others to fall in love with them just because of their money.

5. Beliefs are important, but just like skills, they can be learned, corrected or changed. And we all have the power and the freedom to do that.

6. Being unique is important because that makes you the only living person who can offer the world what you have. So why be afraid if you don’t fit in at times? Be proud that you can stand out!

7. There are many things that you can find good and lovable about you, things you may have ignored or taken for granted because you have always possessed them all these years. As proof, we get attracted with people who have positive traits that are similar to us. We may not have noticed it, but noticing them now, thinking about it and writing them down can help us believe that we have indeed been attracted by such traits, and if we have, then it is quite possible that other people will also be attracted by such traits that we already possess.

8. Instead of treating your mistakes as signs of your inferiority, why not treat them as lessons learned that will increase your wisdom and your strength, and therefore, increase also your self confidence?

9. Rejections by other people happen all the time, it doesn’t mean you’re less deserving of attention or love. For instance, isn’t it good to be rejected by people with bad habits and evil intentions? Doesn’t it say much about them as it does about you?

10. Some criticisms may be productive and we can learn much from them. Other criticisms merely indicate things that the person himself hates about himself and does not want to see in you. It does not even say whether he is right in hating such traits or whether he has merely associated such traits with other things he truly dislikes. Just think about the celebrities that you know who have often been criticized. Even truly good world leaders have been objects of criticism. But that doesn’t mean they deserved every criticism they got or that they should already lose confidence because of them.

Never Let Yourself Down

There will come a time when people would put you down.
People would judge you. Those who hardly know you. And those
whom you thought knew you well. You will look for comfort
but you will find none. You will wander the streets weeping
but not a friend will be in sight.
Never let yourself down. Take heart, for no matter how awful
the accusations against you are, you are still a child of God.
This is the time when your love for yourself will be tested.
Whether you will believe what others say about you, or whether
you will stand your ground because you know yourself best.
Take comfort knowing that you are never alone. God still
believes in you, you know. God loves you and sees in you
the person everybody else failed to see.
Don't fail to see that person. Never let yourself down.

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“But there’s nothing more I could do, this is the end for me.”

“I’ve tried everything and nothing worked!”

“I can’t see how anything could still change.”

“I feel so exhausted, I’ve ran out of the will to live.”

With these words in mind, we can now see why life seems to be meaningless if combined with other factors such as exhaustion, hopelessness and seemingly insurmountable hedges.

It isn’t because life is over that one feels defeated, but that life could never change anymore into the kind of life one desires to have that causes one to consider all life as worthless.  But is it?  Are the blocks we’re surrendering to realistic obstructions that can no longer be overcome?

Let’s consider some of the hindrances that defeat our hope:

1. That we’ve ran out of strength

It is true that years of trials and suffering could so exhaust our strength that we may feel unable to carry on.  But exhaustion is not the same as death, and giving up is not the solution when all that we need to do is REST.

2. That nothing NEW is ever going to happen anymore

Boredom can easily sink in and render life tasteless.  It would seem that nothing new ever happens anymore.  But does it mean that nothing new will indeed happen in the future?  How could we know?  How could our words be so SURE?

We CAN’T predict everything that’s going to happen tomorrow.  We DON’T KNOW.  We don’t know the next person we’d meet that could make a difference in our lives.  We don’t know if we’ll get sick or if we’ll get well.  We don’t know the natural calamities that may strike any moment.  Maybe what we really mean is that we don’t want to hope anymore because we have been hurt so many times before.  Maybe we’re not merely expecting for a NEW thing.  Maybe what we want is a new development towards achieving our hearts desires.

3. That there’s NOTHING we could do anymore

Is it true that there is truly NOTHING more we could do?  Could it be that there is STILL SOMETHING we could do, but that we just DON’T KNOW it yet?  Or could it be that we’re just too tired or too hopeless to do it?  Could it be that we’re just too hurt to still try anything more?

How about being still?  How about waiting? Have we tried to wait to reap the results of our labor?  For just as there is time for a seed to grow, and for a flower to bloom, there must be some period of time between our efforts and the fruits we yearn to see.

How about asking for help? Have we already sought the help of others who could be in the position to help us?  Or have we sought only from those who already disappointed us in the past and therefore, we think everyone else will just be the same?  Have we sought God’s help?  Have we tried to trust Him and allow Him to show us a different way?

In order for new things to come, we have to try new things and embark on the uncertain, on paths we’ve never known before.

4. That we’ve already tried EVERYTHING

EVERYTHING is a very encompassing word.  Is it possible to have already done everything?  Maybe what we mean is that we have already done everything within our powers, within our limitations.  Still, could it be that we don’t know some part of us that has already become stronger through the years?  Could it be that doing everything IN THE PAST is not the same as doing everything NOW in our present capacity?

Doing everything could also mean to us as doing everything that had been expected of us.  It could mean doing everything we thought should be done, the way it has always been done, the way it worked for other people, or the way we thought things ought to work.

Could it be that we could still do something but doing that thing would be so new we’re afraid where it would eventually take us?  In other words, could there be ANOTHER WAY?

Which doors have been closed?  Which paths have been blocked?  Are all paths blocked or are there just some paths you DON’T WANT to take anymore thinking you already know where it would take you?

Life is Precious

Life is still precious, a gift that would never have been given if it isn’t worth anything.  Don’t give up yet.  Rest and renew your strength.  Then try something new, ask for help, ask even for hope that it may be found again.

You’re not the same person today.  Your hurts have made you wiser; your trials have made you stronger.  There is a different future now from the one you saw before. Try to see it with your new eyes, and with your new heart.

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Love your neighbours as you love yourself.  God spoke with the presumption that you already know how to love yourself.  But how about for people who do not even know how to love themselves? Did God ever tell them not to learn to love themselves?  What happens when you don’t love yourself enough?

When you don’t love yourself enough:

• you allow people to mistreat you and to continue to mistreat you
• you try to please other people feeling it’s your obligation, not because you want to
• you feel guilty when good things come your way
• you feel that God doesn’t want you to be happy and He cannot forgive your imperfections
• you feel suspicious when people treat you well or become extra-generous
• you feel that it’s your fault when things go wrong
• you pity yourself easily when someone criticizes you
• you don’t feel comfortable when you look at yourself in the mirror

At first glance, it might seem that this lack of love for isn’t so harmful in our relationship with others.  But how could we even have a basis for loving other people when we can’t even love ourselves? By which standards are we going to treat them when we can’t even treat ourselves well?  When we don’t love ourselves enough, we also lose the capacity to love other people.

Following are some more of the consequences of not loving ourselves enough:

• we allow others to think that it is tolerable to abuse other people
• we find it hard to receive love
• we become prone to depression and hopelessness
• we sabotage our own success because we believe we don’t deserve it.
• subconsciously, we even reject God’s blessings thinking God could never really be concerned with our happiness.

It isn’t a sin to love yourself.  God loves you, and if it’s an evil thing to love someone such as you are, why is it that God continues to love you still?

What’s wrong is when we love ourselves above our neighbours, not caring if we hurt others just so we could get what we want.  We also go wrong when we love ourselves or our neighbours above God, for only God could make us fully happy, and it is from Him where all love comes from.  God is Love Himself.

Do you love yourself enough?

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When one is hurt, only his hurt is real. Other people’s hurts doesn’t matter.  They are just an added burden which one couldn’t carry anymore.

When one is hurt, one needs attention. One is like a vacuum that needs to draw all the good things towards it.  All he sees is his deep emptiness that must be filled, and it isn’t filled.  It’s like a cistern with many holes that could never be filled.

When one is hurt, one feels alone and cast away. One yearns to reach out but is unable to.  No one wants to share his hurt, and he is thus left more alone.

When one is hurt, one hurts other people. One may not want to, but one does.  Others are hurt because he has no capacity to absorb more hurt or think about others.  At other times, others are hurt because deep within him, he wants them to understand.  He wants others to feel his hurt, too, that he may not feel so alone.

When one is hurt, one finds it difficult to trust, to receive and to be loved. Everyone is a suspect for causing him more hurt.  Everyone is a suspect for further rejections and betrayals.

When one is hurt, only those who are strong in love can reach him. Only those who are willing to reach out to his darkness can bring him light.

When one is hurt, one needs healing. One has to recognize his wounds and one must see his problems as they are.

When one is hurt so much, sometimes the only light that could reach him is God’s light, and the only love that could heal him is God’s love. No other person is trustworthy enough or strong enough.  Only God’s love is stubborn enough to persist, even to the point of death and of offering of one’s own life just so that the lost may be found and the blind may be made to see again.

When one is hurt, one dies slowly.  But he who finally trusts in the God who pursues him shall have new life!

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We know, too, how it all ended, right?  He was met halfway by his father with open arms, taken back, celebrated and loved.    But did we forget something? Was it really the end?  Whoever remembers the other prodigal son?

People may not recognize him because he didn’t look the part.  He wasn’t the one who left home and shamed his father.  He wasn’t the one who lived a useless life.  In fact, he lived quite the opposite.  He was the responsible one, the dependable one, the one who has always done what he thought was his father’s will.

You may now be starting to recall something.  Yup, he’s the one.  The brother who’s bitter for the party given by his father to the son who just returned.

Not many people could relate to this other prodigal son.  Not many care anyway.  He just didn’t seem bad enough to create a dramatic story like his brother.  His life seemed boring, and he’s got everything anyhow.  He was never lost, never poor, never as miserable as his brother.  Yet isn’t he?

The truth is I really think he is just as miserable and as lost as his brother.  He may not appear to be so, but his bitter words revealed his true feelings in the end:

‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.  But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ – Luke 15, NIV

Are these the words of someone who is happy with his life and with his relationship with his father?  Not really.  His brother atleast knew that he was doing something wrong, but this one believed he did everything right but despite all he did, he wasn’t rewarded at all, he wasn’t getting what he thought he deserves.

There were many times in my life when I could relate to this brother more than I could with the first.  I could relate to his exhaustion, to his efforts all through the years.  And I could relate with his pain, the way he never seems to get his father’s love.

By any chance, could you recall a time when you felt the same way?  Have you ever felt like you’ve already done everything you could and yet you still feel as though you’re not any closer to what you wanted to achieve?  Have you ever felt like you’ve already done everything for a certain person and yet that person still fails you and hurts you in the end?

We just wanted to do good.  We wanted to do what’s right.  But all we get in return is pain, suffering and disappointment.  Where is our father in heaven then who says he loves us?  What have we done wrong to deserve all these?  We have done our obligation, we obeyed all his laws, and yet the person that he rewards is that person who disobeyed him and never lifted a finger to serve him!  We were the ones who were doing everything.  We were ‘slaving’ for the father, but the father never even gave us a goat to celebrate with our friends when he gave that other son a big party all for wasting his father’s wealth and living a sinful life.  Isn’t it all unfair?

The sad thing is that the parable never said what has become of the other prodigal son.  It never mentioned a happy ending for him, never a word on whether he got his party or whether he ever came out from his bitterness and felt the love of his father.

The only thing that ended the parable were the following words of the father:

“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.  But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” – Luke 15:31-32

That was it.  No hugs, no parties, no gifts to make the other son feel better.  All that the father said was, “My son... you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.”

If you were in his place, how would you have reacted? What would you have thought?  Could such words ever be sufficient enough to heal your pain?  What would you have wanted your father to say?

Personally, and at first glance, I wasn’t happy with what the father said.  For one thing, it was a very short response.  Couldn’t there be a longer explanation?  Secondly, he mentioned my brother again.  Is this all about him again?

Thinking about it though, I couldn’t think of any other answer that the father should have given me.  “My son... you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.”

The father only reiterated what I should have known all along, that I was his child, and that everything He has is also mine.

It is the truth, but it isn’t easy for the truth to sink in.  I haven’t realized it all these years, have I?  How could I so easily understand them now?

But I have to.  If the truth needs to be repeated to me ten more times, or even a hundred times more, I should hear it out and let it open my heart to what I have failed to see all this time.

My brother at least knew that he has his father’s wealth to claim and spend in whatever way he liked.  He just forgot that the most important thing is his father’s love.

But I have forgotten both. I have failed to claim my gifts.  And I have failed to see my father’s love.  I wish I could say I have already gotten both, but I am still in the process of learning to recognize and to receive all that the father has given me.  Someday, I pray that I might finally be able to receive all of his love and all of his blessings for me.

How about you? To which prodigal son could you relate to?

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Only by being loved like this could one really be SECURE in knowing we are LOVED.  And that’s how God loves us!

Our self-worth should be anchored in God’s Love alone.  Only that is UNSHAKABLE.

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But what if after buying it, you find out that you could no longer afford to maintain it?  Or that someone else is interested in the same painting, someone who hates the artist and wants to destroy the painting at all costs?  What would you do if you knew someone who could protect the painting, but letting him protect it would also mean letting go of the one thing that has brought you so much joy?  Will you let go of the painting so you could save it somehow?

Though it would surely break your heart, you would let it go and give it to the one who can protect it.  You would sacrifice your own happiness just to know that the most important thing you’ve found, whose beauty is beyond equal, would be preserved somehow, and kept away from harm.

And so you would grieve your loss.  You would grieve for the long days ahead of you without being able to see the one thing that has given you so much joy.

One day however, you will discover a great secret. That if you have truly loved the painting with all your heart, and with all your soul, you can recall its beauty wherever you are, however far away you may be from the masterpiece that you have lost.  In truth you will realize, that you haven’t really lost the treasure that you have found, for it has been kept safely where no thief could ever take it away from you.  You’d find out that its beauty and its joy have already been embedded deeply within your heart.

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Where Is Your Guilt Coming From?

What I have in common with the character in 'Truman' is this incredible need to please people. I feel like I want to take care of everyone and I also feel this terrible guilt if I am unable to. - Jim Carrey

Where Is Your Guilt Coming From?

Whenever we feel that certain remorse for doing something bad, we’re either measuring our behavior based on our own standards, or we’re allowing other people’s standards to question our own beliefs on what is right and what is wrong.

Though we do have to be firm with our own standards of goodness, the perspective of other people on the matter do provide us with periodic checks that help us validate our own moral code.  Have we been overlooking something which other people see?  What are some of the blind spots we need to address in our own conscience?

Without guilt, this world would be a more dangerous place to be, filled with people with no remorse whatsoever for all the harmful things they’ve done, unaffected even by the pleas of other people who got hurt and damaged along the way.  Just think of the psychopaths who can get away with mass murder without flinching a bit.  It’s frightening to even imagine such a world where conscience and guilt do not exist.

Hard though it may be to accept, remember that guilt is sometimes a friendly internal voice reminding you that you're messing up. - Marge Kennedy

We do mess up a lot of times, and we should be thankful for that internal voice guiding us so we could appropriately correct the wrong that we have done.

Setting Appropriate Boundaries

There are times however, when other people could use this same feeling of guilt in order to manipulate us, maybe not consciously, but in one way or the other, we’re influenced to an extent that is no longer healthy for us.

This is especially true for people who have great empathy for others, those who could feel other people’s pain as though it were their own.

When they say no to other people’s expectations, they feel that they have let those people down, and they feel guilty.

As a result, they’d rather sacrifice their own good just to avoid letting other people down.  They take on more responsibilities, they sacrifice their time, they spend all their energy until they get drained and feel exhausted.

What they fail to realize is that by hurting themselves, they also risk hurting other people in the long run!  Sooner or later, they’d feel so drained they’d have nothing left to give anymore.  What’s worse is when they get tempted to play the blame-game, blaming other people for making them do things they never wanted to do in the first place.

Let us be humble enough to acknowledge our own limitations and let us give other people the opportunity to be responsbile for themselves.  If we continue to do more than is necessary for other people, we may actually be hindering their growth and their ability to take care of their own selves.

True guilt is guilt at the obligation one owes to oneself to be oneself. False guilt is guilt felt at not being what other people feel one ought to be or assume that one is. R. D. Laing

While it may be true that we don’t want to let other people down, we can’t always be responsible for their own way of thinking.  They may think we’re refusing them something we have the capacity of giving them.  They may think we don’t care.  But only we could truly know how much we really care and how much we could give without sacrificing our own good.

Our Need For Approval

If we find it so difficult to set the necessary boundaries between our own and other people’s expectations of us, we may try to ask ourselves why we’re finding it so hard to do so.  Is it because in truth, we are relying on other people’s approval in order to validate our own self-esteem?  Whenever we’re not able to please other people, do we feel rejected as well?  Do we feel worthless?

If we become dependent upon other people’s approval in order to validate our own self worth, then even our own moral standards may become prejudiced in the end.  Why?  Because such standards will no longer be based on an impartial and independent set of measures we have set for our own lives.

Our guilt, in order to be a useful signal for our morality, should be based on a clear and firm foundation of values we truly believe in, not a mixed feeling triggered by our fear of rejection and our need for other people’s approval.  The next time you feel guilty, try to ask yourself, where is this guilt really coming from?

I'm not doing my philanthropic work, out of any kind of guilt, or any need to create good public relations. I'm doing it because I can afford to do it, and I believe in it. - George Soros

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Why Is It So Hard To Be Perfect?

My child, you are broken. Unless you know that you are broken yourself, it will be severely laborious to love the broken people around you. You will be harsh and exacting towards them. But because you want others to like you, you will always attempt to hide your weaknesses from others. Let me strip away your masks, so that you may know who you really are. And when this truth sets you free, then shall you be free to genuinely love. Before this occurs, your love will be offered by the flask, not by the torrents of a river. -BoSanchez, Embraced

How does it feel like trying to be perfect all the time?

How does it feel like trying to always be the one person who understands, who cares about others, who gives and gives and yet receives nothing in return?

I’ll tell you how it feels like.  It’s tiring!  There are times when you feel as though you can’t even breathe anymore.  You can’t relax because you know you’re not allowed to make any mistake.  You feel afraid because once you do make one, you don’t know if you can still be forgiven and understood.

And it just feels so unfair.  Why are so many people being forgiven and loved after committing so many mistakes in their lives?  Why can’t I be loved like that?  Why can’t people be patient with me, too?

Trying to be perfect is like trying to do the impossible, and since we can’t accomplish it, we’re bound to be frustrated in the end.  We feel the rejection of other people because we first rejected ourselves.  After a while, we also begin rejecting other people because they can’t live up to the strict standards we have set for everyone.

Will God Reject Me Too?

God wants us to be perfect someday, but He knows the limits of our humanity at the moment, and that is why He has provided us MERCY.

If we could all attain perfection on our own, Jesus need not have been crucified for us.  But He knew we needed GRACE, and He decided to MEET us, not at our point of perfection, but at our point of pain.

There are times when the words I LOVE YOU seem to pale in comparison with the words I FORGIVE YOU.  Why?  Because there are times when the words I LOVE YOU could only stand for as long as you’re good enough, but the words I FORGIVE YOU have already dealt with your darkest sins and still finds the strength to look you in the eye and accept you as you are.

Love and Perfection

Love does not say,
“I am now PERFECT,
you can now LOVE me,”
for such makes love conditional
upon one’s perfection,
and makes the beloved proud and arrogant
instead of being full of gratitude.
Such a love evokes fear
for it is a love that can easily be lost
upon the slightest mistake
and upon the smallest sign
that the beloved is not worthy of one’s love.
Let those who yearn to know
what true love really is behold -
“I am wretched
but You have lifted me up and LOVED me.

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Jesus also told this parable to people who were sure of their own goodness and despised everybody else.

Once there were two men who went up to the Temple to pray: one was a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood apart by himself and prayed, I thank you, God, that I am not greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer, like everybody else. I thank you that I am not like that tax collector over there. I fast two days a week, and I give you one tenth of all my income.

But the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even raise his face to heaven, but beat on his breast and said,  God, have pity on me, a sinner!  I tell you, said Jesus, the tax collector, and not the Pharisee, was in the right with God when he went home. For those who make themselves great will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be made great.

-Luke 18:9-14

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Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.– Kahlil Gibran

We seek for happiness all our lives.  We seek for it in things that bring us pleasure.  We seek for it in people who could love us and accept us for who we are.

When things go wrong however, that same happiness turns into grief, and we are heartbroken once again.  We ask ourselves, “Is happiness really that fleeting?”

A little voice within answers, “Yes, for happiness depends upon events and things that change.  If you want something that lasts, seek for joy instead.”

We ask in turn, “How can it be?  Can joy still exist even in my sorrows?”

I believe that joy and sorrow can definitely exist at the same time. Yes, we are hurt. Yes, we’re broken. But yes, we know we’re going to make it. And yes, we know we’ll get out of it better persons than we used to be.

Somewhere in our hearts, there is a chamber of joy that should remain intact and untouched, forever guiding us in our most troublesome paths.

“I have deep sorrow today, and an unclear vision of the future. But nobody ever died of loneliness – only of hopelessness! As long as I have hope, no problem is ever too difficult, no night ever so dark that it can prevent the rising of another day!”

The key to joy is hope.  It is the belief that the pain we’re suffering from at the moment cannot last forever and shall one day pass away.  It is a certitude that things are always turning out for the better, for our own good, because God is still in charge of our lives, and God will never let us down.

We rejoice then, not because we are wounded, but because we are in the process of being healed.  We rejoice not because we are experiencing tough times, but because we are being made stronger and braver than we used to be.

Where is joy then in the midst of all our sorrows?

1. JOY is in our hope that God’s Plans for us will come true, and it’s just a matter of time.

God has the best plans for us, and they will come true in due time.  For the meantime, we can relax and stop stressing ourselves over fears caused by our impatience, our envy and our lack of faith.

IMPATIENCE

Sometimes, it is not our current situation that really causes us stress.  It’s our impatience that things are not yet how we wanted them to be.  We want to be rich NOW.  We want to find our life partners NOW.  We want to be stronger NOW.

But there are things that require time.  An oak tree must start from a little seed.  A person must start out as a little baby.  A business empire must start out as a small enterprise.  And a soul must undergo many seasons of testing and pruning before it becomes holy and strong.

If we could only trust the process we’re going through, we’d feel less impatient, and more hopeful for the beautiful things coming our way.

ENVY

One reason why we want to have everything we want at the moment is that we envy other people who have already reached what we want to achieve in life.

It hurts our ego that we are not as blessed as others are.  We can’t accept that we’re still in the process of reaching for our dreams while others have already made theirs come true.

Oftentimes however, we do not know how many years those people spent before they were able to reach their current status in life.  We don’t know how many times they cried or how much pain and rejection they had to go through in order to be the successful people we now know them to be.

Let us trust God’s own process with us and let us not be impatient because we are certain to receive our rewards in due time.

LACK OF FAITH

The answer to what we’re praying for may already be on the way – a pending job application is soon to be approved, a potential life partner is just about to be met, an apology is to be accepted.  Yet even if these things are about to happen soon, if we don’t currently believe they could happen, we’d be in great misery and hopelessness for the moment.

If we could only believe that prayers are still answered, and it shall be answered in the right time, we’d be less anxious and more secure that the best things are already on their way.

When God says, let me take care of this, let Him. Don't try to work your way for His blessings when He wants to shower you with His Gifts.

2. JOY is in our hope that whatever our current sacrifices are, it will redound towards the good of others.

There are times when our suffering is voluntary.  We know we’re doing certain things in order to help other people.  Times such as these, our joy rests in the vision we have of the good change our sacrifices will yield in the lives of other people.

There are three things we much remember so as not to lose our joy within our current difficulties:

OUR SUFFERING ISN’T MEANINGLESS

A lot of our troubles fade away whenever our difficulties take on some meaning.  What’s really difficult are those sufferings that don’t make sense for us, those that drain us with pain without any accompanying fruit commensurate to our hurts.  When you are making a certain sacrifice for another person, always remember the meaning of what you’re doing.  Are you working hard in order to send your children to school?  Are you trying to bear the loneliness of being away from your loved ones in order to give your family a better future?  Remind yourself always that your efforts are not in vain.

OUR SUFFERING WILL ONLY BE FOR A WHILE

We should also remember that our sacrifices would last only for a certain period of time. We may need to count several months or even years, but it doesn’t change the fact that the time will come also for our sufferings to end.

OUR SUFFERING WILL BRING A LASTING GOOD

Our difficulties are only for a moment, but they shall bring a lasting good for those we love.  We may need to work overtime for several years, but the reward could be the education of our children.  There is a lasting good in exchange for our momentary troubles, and this is what we should always keep in mind.

We are not here to be entertained, but to live a meaningful life that makes a lasting difference.

3. JOY is in our hope that God can and will transform us into the best that we could be.

We may not be happy with who we are today.  We may even feel ashamed of our weaknesses.  Our sorrow is that we have been rejected many times, and it came to a point when we may even reject ourselves.  We no longer feel worthy of being loved.  We can’t believe we’d ever be happy with ourselves, how could other people then be happy with us?

But that is not how God works.  God takes us in our weakness and transforms our shame into strength, our brokenness into a glory we could never even imagine.

We all want to be beautiful because we want to be loved.  In truth however, it is because God loves us that we become beautiful.

The Bible is filled with many stories of how God transformed a number of men from fear to courage, from cowardice into greatness.  That’s how God works, and that’s the source of our joy!

-JEREMIAH

They will fight against you like an attacking army,
but I will make you as secure as a fortified wall of bronze.
They will not conquer you,
for I am with you to protect and rescue you.
I, the Lord, have spoken!
Yes, I will certainly keep you safe from these wicked men.
I will rescue you from their cruel hands.” - Jeremiah 15:20-21

Such was God’s assurance to Jeremiah, imagine being compared to a fortified wall of bronze!

-GIDEON

Then the Lord's angel came to the village of Ophrah and sat under the oak tree that belonged to Joash, a man of the clan of Abiezer. His son Gideon was threshing some wheat secretly in a wine press, so that the Midianites would not see him. The Lord's angel appeared to him there and said,
The Lord is with you, brave and mighty man!

Judges 6:11-12

Gideon wasn’t at all being brave by threshing some wheat secretly and hiding from the Midianites (their enemy).  But it was God who willed to transform him into a brave and mighty man.

-JACOB

Fear not, you worm Jacob,
...I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD;
...Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge,
new, sharp, and having teeth;
you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,
and you shall make the hills like chaff;
you shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away...-Isaiah 41

Jacob was so weak he was even compared to a worm!  But see God’s message for him:  I make of you a threshing sledge,new, sharp, and having teeth. How different is a little worm that easily gets bruised and crushed from a sharp instrument which God has intended him to be.

Even the apostles of Jesus were all fearful when Jesus had been captured and crucified.  How different they have been after receiving the Holy Spirit of God.  They were transformed from men of fear to men of courage who were not afraid to proclaim Jesus’ message even if they are risking their very lives in bearing witness to His truth.

God transforms us and helps us become the best of ourselves.  In this we find hope, and our joy is made complete!

It is through the most difficult trials that God often brings us the sweetest discoveries of Himself.

God comforts us in our sorrows.  He gives us hope to carry us through even the darkest night.  Our happiness may have been lost, but our joy need never fade.  Joy should be kept safely in the innermost chambers of our hearts.

He has sent me to comfort all who mourn,

To give to those who mourn in Zion

Joy and gladness instead of grief,

A song of praise instead of sorrow.

Isaiah 61:2-3

Our weeping is but for a moment, but our joy shall last forever! Rejoice then and keep your hopes up, we are far more blessed than we believe.

A TIME FOR JOY

This may not be a time for dances,
but this is a time for prayer.
This may not be a time for clapping,
but this is a time for songs.

This may not be a time for merriment,
but this is a time for awakening.
This may not be a time for running,
but this is a time for rest.

This may not be a time for kisses,
but this is a time for hugs.
This may not be a time for laughter,
but this is a time for smiles.

This may not be a time for parties,
this may not be a time for noise,
But this is a time for healing,
and this is a time for joy!

© Jocelyn Soriano for I Take Off The MASK!, 2011. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
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