Category: Faith Walk

Reflections About God, His Word and His Work

Long, Exaggerated, Happy Sigh

RhizaLeave a comment

I posted this photo on Instagram and Facebook this morning, and I can’t resist posting this here too.

I was just about to leave for work this morning, it was drizzling, and I watched as my husband busied himself in that little corner we call our garden. Soon, he came back with a big smile on his face, a scissor on one hand, and this freshly-cut single-stemmed rose on the other. I didn’t know he was growing rose bushes out there until today!

What a sweetheart, this guy. I fall in love everyday!

I know I sound like a lovestruck wife in every blog post, but everyday I’m also reminded that surely something as beautiful as this married life has got to have some greater purpose than just making two people happy!

Gary Thomas said it best,

“What if God didn’t design marriage to be ‘easier’? What if God had an end in mind that went beyond our happiness, our comfort, and our desire to be infatuated and happy as if the world were a perfect place? What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?”

I agree. I definitely agree.

God Replaces What He Takes Away

Rhiza43 Comments

May 2019.  Hello! A quick note from 2019 Riz :) 

Hey guys, I wrote this post in 2012 but it still gets the most amount of traffic of all the pages in this blog. Every now and then I get some questions and critics, and yes, I see you, and I understand where you’re coming from.

This made me think of two things: First, that many of you are searching for answers on how to deal “when God takes something away” on Google. I’m glad that your search led you to this page, but now that you’re here, I’d like to point you to the Word of God which is the most reliable source we all could have.

Second, that I needed a lot of growing up from the time I wrote this post. There are many layers surrounding this topic that I couldn’t have covered 6 years ago. I didn’t think about unborn children, or school shooting, or cancer, or injustice. I did talk about death and losing my Dad when I was 24 years old. Admittedly, I could have used better terminologies, or referenced the Scripture more.

In any case, I still believe most of what I said in this post, however seemingly shallow the illustrations I used. Now a little wiser and eyes more wide open to what’s happening in the world, I still believe with all my heart that He is the Giver of all gifts and Sovereign in all things, in all seasons, at all times—whether we understand it or not.

I thought of repurposing this content with more solid doctrine. In the end, however, I decided to keep it as it is, the way I understood this concept in 2012. :)

March 2012. A few weeks ago, we lost my husband’s Android phone in a cab and never got it back. Losing a phone is such a hassle. We had to report the stolen sim card, rebuild our contacts from scratch, and adjust our budget to buy a replacement.

But the worst part is losing all the memories that were stored in it—photos and videos from our time in New York, long-distance text messages sent from two years ago. It was also the same phone that got us through our long-distance relationship, just like the laptops that were stolen 5 months ago.

I know what you’re thinking. It’s just a gadget, Riz! Still, it strikes me and my husband how God seems to be stripping us off things we used to hold on to in the past, and giving us a clean canvass to paint new memories with. And maybe losing a phone is a mere representation of that, but I believe that mostly, God is doing some general cleaning inside of us.

Three things I learned about losing things:

(And by “things” I mean material possessions, dreams, jobs, people we love—stuff that are tangible and intangible.)

When God takes something away, He replaces it with the best

And no, it doesn’t always mean a better phone, or a better job. It doesn’t always mean more. When we lost our laptops, it took us about 2 months before we were able to buy a new one. Two laptops lost, and God replaced it with one new laptop, not three. But what we gained from that experience is more than just material gratification. In exchange for what was stolen from us, God gave us joy, and contentment, and more quality time together. ;)

When I lost my home-based job, God didn’t replace it with a higher-paying job or a job with less working hours. Instead, He gave me job security, health insurance for me and my husband, and the opportunity to work with people again. God replaces good things in our lives with the best, and in ways we don’t expect.

When God takes something away, it’s most likely not good for us

We sometimes hold on to stuff that are not doing us good, people that are holding us back, dreams that are taking us away from our true calling. Sometimes we don’t realize that we’re carrying too many excess baggage, preventing us from running light. So God takes them away even if we get hurt in the process, and when He does, He’s actually releasing us from more pain.

And mind you, God is more stubborn than we can ever be. So rather than playing tug of war with God, or rather than being angry at Him, just let go. Open your palm and release from your kung-fu tight grip what He’s clearly taking away from you. Trust that He knows what’s best.

When God takes something away, sometimes we don’t have to know why

One thing my husband and I learned over the past year is how everything is under God’s prerogative. He gives and takes away, He alters schedules and plans, He accomplishes His will whatever it takes—even if it requires parting oceans and sending His own Son to die. He sees things from a bigger perspective, and when things do not make sense to us, to Him, everything is happening according to plan.

When God took my Dad home, He didn’t replace him with someone else—there’s just no way my Dad could ever be replaced in my life. There are losses that are better left unexplained, lest we start questioning God’s goodness. The key to acceptance is believing in your heart that God knows what He’s doing and that He means well. He is sovereign above all things, and He will have His way when He pleases and for His glory. Maybe God will reveal answers in this lifetime, maybe not. It doesn’t matter.

We don’t always have to know why. What matters is, He does.

Must-Read Books about Loss, Grief and Adversities.. and Finding Joy and Purpose in the Midst of Suffering

Here are some books that you might find relevant as you seek your own journey through loss and grief. I’ll keep updating this list whenever I can.

And Still She Laughs
Defiant Joy in the Depths of Suffering

by Kate Merrick

Kate Merrick examines the Bible’s gritty stories of resilient women as well as her own experience losing a child-a journey followed by more than a million on prayfordaisy.com-to reveal the reality of surprising joy and deep hope even in the midst of heartache. Is it possible live fully-even joyfully-in the middle of overwhelming pain?

In the excruciating aftermath of her young daughter’s death from cancer, Kate Merrick struggled to find a way to live. Not just to survive or go through the motions, but to live fully. Faithfully. With real joy amid inevitable tears. To discover how, Kate delved into the stories in the Bible of real women who suffered deeply and emerged somehow joyful.

[su_button url=”https://www.bookdepository.com/Still-She-Laughs-Kate-Merrick/9780718092818?a_aid=chasingdreams” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#333″ size=”5″ radius=”0″ icon=”icon: shopping-cart”]BUY THIS BOOK[/su_button]

Hope When It Hurts
Biblical Reflections to Help You Grasp God’s Purpose in Your Suffering

by Kristen Wetherell

Suffering is real. But so is hope. Kristen and Sarah have walked through, and are walking in, difficult times. So these thirty biblical reflections are full of realism about the hurts of life yet overwhelmingly full of hope about the God who gives life. This book will gently encourage and greatly help any woman who is struggling with suffering whether physical, emotional or psychological, and whether for a season or for longer.

It is a book to buy for yourself, or to buy for a member of your church or friend. For anyone who is hurting, this book will give hope, not just for life beyond the suffering, but for life in the suffering. Each chapter contains a biblical reflection, with questions and prayers, and a space for journaling.

[su_button url=”https://www.bookdepository.com/Hope-When-It-Hurts-Kristen-Wetherell/9781784980733?a_aid=chasingdreams” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#333″ size=”5″ radius=”0″ icon=”icon: shopping-cart”]BUY THIS BOOK[/su_button]

You’ll Get Through This
Hope and Help for Your Turbulent Times

by Max Lucado

In You’ll Get Through This, pastor and New York Times best-selling author, Max Lucado offers sweet assurance. “Deliverance is to the Bible what jazz music is to Mardi Gras: bold, brassy, and everywhere.” Max reminds readers God doesn’t promise that getting through trials will be quick or painless. It wasn’t for Joseph–tossed in a pit by his brothers, sold into slavery, wrongfully imprisoned, forgotten and dismissed–but his Old Testament story is in the Bible for this reason: to teach us to trust God to trump evil.

With the compassion of a pastor, the heart of a storyteller, and the joy of one who has seen what God can do, Max explores the story of Joseph and the truth of Genesis 50:20. What Satan intends for evil, God redeems for good.

[su_button url=”https://www.bookdepository.com/Youll-Get-Through-This-Max-Lucado/9780718031510?a_aid=chasingdreams” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#333″ size=”5″ radius=”0″ icon=”icon: shopping-cart”]BUY THIS BOOK[/su_button]

Free Delivery on all Calendars at the Book Depository

Saturdays and solitude

Rhiza7 Comments

There was a point in my life when being alone made me crazy; times when I made it a point to be surrounded by people whether I knew them or not. Good for me, those days are gone. And now that I’ve come to acknowledge solitude as a gift, I welcome it with a huge smile on my face and a long, exaggerated, happy sigh. Thank God for Saturdays. And solitude.

Two Saturdays ago, I spent my alone-time studying and marveling at the book of Ephesians, in preparation for that message I had the privilege of sharing at our church last February 19. Ephesians is beautiful (not to mention cheesy), you know? Go, read it and see for yourself! :)

A clean house, a cup of coffee, some vanilla oreos, and a solid, quality time with God’s Word—it was another happy Saturday for me!

Do you feel it too, when something BIG is about to happen—a new adventure looming in the horizon? Time spent in solitude, they say, prepares us for changes and challenges that are about to come our way. My husband and I don’t know what our new adventure is going to be exactly, and when, and how, but something inside me is feeling giddy and restless these days. In a good, bring-it-on-Lord kind of way. :)

Just Believe

Rhiza7 Comments

If there’s one day, just one day, in your life where you made a decision that changed you forever, when was it?

No, it wasn’t my wedding day, life-changing as it had been. Today I’m thinking of a day that’s quite similar to a wedding, because it also involves a life-long covenant, a bold decision, and a leap of faith.

June 11, 1994. I was 11 years old. I went with my Mom to their office, which also happened to be our church. Before he passed, My Dad was a Pastor and my Mom partnered with him in that ministry for 33 years. So me and my brothers basically grew up with the church as our second home, attending (later on, teaching) Sunday schools, youth camps, Bible studies, fellowship groups, and tagging along wherever my parents went.

But it was on June 11, 1994 when it all became clear to me that being a Christian is not exactly inheritable. When your parents are Christians, that doesn’t make you one by default. Sure, parents can raise you up in a Christian environment, but their belief does not automatically become your belief. It’s a decision only YOU can make for yourself. And it’s a decision that God will call you to do.

And so I surrendered my life to Jesus that day in 1994. I remember praying with my Mom and shedding lots of tears. I remember understanding for the first time that Jesus Christ suffered and died in the cross because it’s the only way to save us from our sins.

“He loves us that much?”, I remember my 11-year-old self asking my Mom, wiping my tears away. Even until now, whenever I think about God’s goodness, I would find myself saying variations of that very sentence: Really, Lord? You love me that much?

What does an 11 year old girl know about making decisions anyway, you ask. I’m not sure how to answer that question either; being 11 felt too long ago. All I know is, I remember June 11, 1994 vividly, and that day was the start of this amazing ride. And although at times I find myself falling or bruising myself along the way, it’s God’s love for me that kept me going and moving forward in this journey of faith.

My faith story is not like Rica Peralejo‘s or Manny Pacquiao. Theirs was a drastic decision to turn away from their old lives while I grew up in church and didn’t have to “adjust” so much. But the Spirit that changed them is the same that moved in my life, and is continuously working in our lives. Truly, Jesus’ act of love 2,000 years ago, His death on the cross, has the power to redeem us from our self-destructive, sinful nature and give us eternal life.

If only we would let Him.

How? Just believe.

Believe that you need a Saviour, that you need Jesus Christ in your life. Believe that no amount of good works is enough to earn you eternal life, after all, heaven does not have a point system. All sins fall in the same category, and sin comes with a price. As it’s been said in Romans 6:23:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

Not by works, just Jesus.

Believe. Surrender your life to Him. Let Him take over. That’s all it takes.

Is there one day in your life where you made a decision that changed your life forever?

This could be that day.

What were you doing exactly a year ago?

Rhiza3 Comments

Lately it’s our favorite pastime, the what-were-you-doing-exactly-this-time-last-year game. Especially this past year when, for us, changes have been dramatic.

i.e. (1) Last year, on my husband’s birthday, we were saying good bye; this year, we woke up next to each other and ate pancakes for breakfast. (2) Last year, on New Year’s Eve, we were shouting our greetings to each other over long distance phone calls, twice, because of the time difference; this year, we’re in Manila Hotel with David’s extended family, we watched the last sunset of the year together, and we welcomed the new year in the same continent and timezone. And then we had a beautiful quality time, just the two of us, at home, before work and classes resumed.

Behold the last sunset of 2011.

I had quite a number of milestones in 2011.

I encountered God like I never did before, after which, answered prayers and miracles happened one after the other I can never stop praising and thanking God.

And then LifeXtreme happened in this life of mine. It’s a humbling experience to be part of the committee that frontlines our church’s Youth Worship. This coming March marks LifeXtreme’s anniversary and I’m so blessed to have witnessed God’s work in our church’s youth ministry up front and center.

I turned 28, and celebrated what turned out to be my last birthday as a single person.

I let go of  a comfortable work-from-home set-up to make room for a more stable, more organized office job in Makati. I never thought I’d go back to the work force again after 2 years of being an SEO nomad, but stability is more important to me now than adventure, and I love how I can separate work from home and home from work this time around. Someone’s getting old.

I got married, which opened up a floodgate of big changes, like the change of address, and a hyphenated name, among many others.

It’s heartwarming, looking back and seeing what God has done and how far He has brought us in such a short period of time. Before 2011 started, our game plan was quite different. As the year ended, God proved once again that He’s a God of sweet surprises, and that we can never out-plan Him.

Which brings me back to our game. Try it. What were you doing exactly this time last year? How much has changed since? Are you doing something you planned and worked hard for, or something totally unexpected?

A warning, be careful to not dwell too much in the past. It’s one thing to look back and be stuck in what-ifs and what-should-have-beens, another thing to look back for the purpose of moving forward and being thankful for what you have now.

New Years are for clean slates and new beginnings. I pray that you find yourself counting blessings this 2012. :)

On Christmas Traditions, Typhoon Victims, and Being Still

Rhiza4 Comments

Exactly a month ago, we put together our little Christmas tree at home, and I think I may have said I was “excited” to post more photos. So much for my excitement. The month has been packed with so many things, and uploading these photographs was the first to be pushed down my list! Anyway, here they are, for traditions’ sake.

It’s our first Christmas as husband and wife, and I love that we get to start our own Christmas traditions. Last year, I had some instax photographs up on my Christmas tree, and this year, we decided to do the same. We picked some of our favorite photographs from the wedding and the honeymoon and printed them out with our Polaroid Pogo. It’s a cute little project, something we hope we can keep on doing for years to come.

On another note, I know it has been a challenge for our country to celebrate Christmas this year when Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City are still under the state of calamity. We don’t have a television at home and, quite honestly, my husband and I have only seen and heard so much. I know we’ll never really have a clear picture of what’s happening out there but our family feels somehow involved. My eldest brother is there since last week; as part of his job, he’s with the ABS-CBN Engineering Crew which covers the relief operations there. It’s our first Christmas Day without him, probably even New Year too. And so we had to let go of certain Christmas traditions this year so my brother can be where he’s needed more.

I look at Ate Imy (my sister-in-law) and Isaac and I imagine how difficult it must be for them to celebrate Christmas without Kuya. But then I think about the thousands of families in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan who lost their loved ones and friends over the flash flood, and how devastating Christmas and New Year must be like for them. As I stare at our Christmas tree here at home, my heart goes out to the victims of Sendong who lost their homes and didn’t get the chance to put up their trees this year. At the time of this writing, the death toll has reached about 1,500. This is even more tragic than Ondoy.

Suddenly, no personal issues or problems are too big.

It’s easy to question the goodness of God at a time like this, but words from the Bible pop up like bright stars in the dark sky: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9) God sees everything in a bigger perspective, and as far as His grand scheme of things is concerned, everything happens for a reason and for our own good. His ways are higher, we only have to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10)—and believe that with all our hearts.

For the rest of us who are not in the center of this tragedy and are watching this from a distance, it’s our chance to help and make a difference. I’m not directly connected with any relief efforts for Sendong, but I think the surest way for our donations to reach Cagayan de Oro and Iligan is through Red Cross. We have 2 more days left before 2011 ends, let’s make it count.