Everyday Devotions by an Ordinary Christian

Everyday Devotions by an Ordinary Christian
Showing posts with label Troubles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Troubles. Show all posts

Friday, 1 February 2013

peace given in the worst of times

Tomorrow, I'll be going to a funeral, for the death of the daughter of my piano teacher. She's the most precious thing, such a little princess. Only 6 months old. When I heard this news, I just balled. My piano teacher is the sweetest woman and she always has such peace and patience especially when I don't do my piano homework. But this was the last thing I would ever think could happen. I thought, "she doesn't deserve this", but we all deserve death but God gave us life because of his great mercy. And what God decided to do with this precious life after he gave her life, was to call her back home. Maybe he missed her too much. ;) ahaha but today, I went to the visitation at the funeral home and I saw her lying in her little casket and she looked like a doll, I couldn't help myself I started crying. I needed peace in my heart even though I wasn't the parent of this little soul. I couldn't look into my teacher's eyes or her husband's, I didn't want to cry even more in front of them. That was probably the last thing they wanted. But what took me by surprise was how calm they were. There seemed to be peace within their hearts. That's the amazing thing about our Lord. He offers peace when you most need it, when it seems nearly impossible to have. And the only thing my piano teacher said to me before I balled again was, "I wish you could've seen her more often." I had never got to see her once, and my family had. So she had promised me in the second week of January that she was going to bring her in for one of the lessons. But the day never came, and it never will. The thought just made me cry even more, I really needed strength. I felt silly because I felt like I was struggling more with keeping myself together and strong than they were. Then one of those awesome moments where God puts that random verse in your mind happened. (ps. I wanted to put that verse on their card, but it was too late)
Colossians 1:11
God will strengthen you with his own
great power so that you will 
not give up when troubles come,
but you will be patient.

My teacher and her husband sure had that verse down because they were very patient and seemed like they had strength provided by God so that they could keep strong. And I think I need some of what they have because I am just breaking down. The thing I love though, is how God designed us. He designed us with feelings for one another, we may not be close to a person, but when they're hurting, we hurt too. We don't have to be identical twins to feel each other. We know how depressing death is and how it could affect one's life. We know that many people's heart were dear to the dead's. Sometimes though, we might need help ourselves, and I'm not just talking about girls (my brother couldn't hold himself either and he's a strong person, we had to leave because he couldn't bear to see her lying there). We sometimes look for things to help us through our sadness like food or friends or music. But there isn't always assurance that it will keep you strong. One thing is sure though. That is the Bible. We could relate to it one way or another no matter what our problems are. In this situation, my teacher, her family and her husband and his family, can relate to David. His son was very ill and was going to die, so he grieved and prayed until the day came when his son was called home. Then David did something remarkable, he got up, cleaned himself and worshiped the Lord then ate for he fasted while the child was alive. Everyone was wondering why he wasn't grieving because of his son's death. He said that what was done is done, he can't do anything about it. But while his son was alive, there was still hope that he could become well. He also said that he will see him one day and will be reunited with him. Just like how all those dear to this precious girl will be reunited with her again one day. So all we could do now is clean ourselves and look towards that day when we shall see her again. My teacher and her family will be in my prayers and thoughts, and I am also motivated to work harder on my piano so I don't give her a hard time with it anymore. She has really encouraged me in the 5 years she's been working with me and she has set great goals for me and so far we have accomplished them and I want to continue to accomplish them for I don't want to let her down. This little girl will always be in my heart and she'll always remind me to stay strong and patient when trials come. I just pray for their peace to continue through the funeral ceremony. 




(click on the sentence above to get to it)


Sunday, 6 November 2011

Loving others (Behind the Scenes)

I had just started my first year of high school a couple of months ago with excitement and anxiousness.
Not knowing what I was going to face, whether God was going to use me or use others to help me grow strong in character, what adventures he might bring upon me and what troubles and stresses I might go through. All these thoughts were running through my head as I took my first step into the building with my friends.

It looked normal, but what was behind the scenes at my high school? What were the students like?

High School is a major leap from Elementary school. More work, bigger facilities, more students, more studying, gym everyday (I'm not much of an athlete, I just like Thai kickboxing and Brazilian Jujitsu), more rotary, and harder teachers.

But what was so good about high school was that you can find more people who you enjoy to be around, whereas in elementary school, you were practically forced to be friends with the people in your grade since Kindergarten until grade 8 graduation. This was an advantage for me. I figured, the more people who would listen to me, the more I can share God's love, and in a Christian school! So they've already had some background knowledge from chapel.

I would like to share with you a heart changing experience that I've had in my first semester of high school.

My homeroom is science which I have with one of my close friends, I didn't really get to know much people then because we were just settling in and getting to know our teacher, but one person caught my eye right away, and I'm pretty sure he caught everyone's eyes too. You can't miss him. He was a boy about 6"5 and here I am 4"11 or maybe 5"0. About double my height. WOW. I know. All my life I've dreamed of being tall, but I never thought about being that tall. When you think about Goliath, he sounds pretty tall, but you don't actually see his height, you just get a written description. Now, I think that Goliath was massive because the boy is only 6"5 and Goliath was like 9 feet!

See, this boy, I got to know him as the days went by, he is actually the sweetest boy I have ever come across, but what I didn't know about him was all behind those eyes of his.

I was talking to him one day in one of the classes we had together and another girl as well and we were talking about our elementary school years, the girl was telling me about how she wasn't treated properly because she was born in U.S.A.! Isn't that crazy? People will try to find any reason to bring you down and to raise themselves up. The boy on the other hand wasn't treated well either because of how tall he was! That tore my heart away, all the stories I have heard, it was unbelievable! I started to pray for them, for them to find someone whom they can trust and someone who will treat them as a friend, a true friend. I also gave them my link to my blog.

Later I asked the boy if he looked at my blog, he told me that he didn't have time but he always had that piece of paper with him that had the link on it. That brightened up my spirit. It told me that I was doing the right thing.

That night I went on my blog and found that i had a new follower. I took a look at my comments and found one by a person named Tall but small. I laughed, surely this was the boy. I was so happy that he commented. I clicked on his name and on his profile it showed that he had a blog. I decide to read it and follow it because he didn't have anyone following it. What I read in the next 10 minutes broke my heart. It showed me what I was missing. People in the world look like they're having a great time and enjoying their lives, but once you look behind the scenes, its a whole other world that they're living in. But at the end of each post, he wrote about how he could always count on God to help him get through his pain and how He'll always be there for him. This showed me that I had really impacted someone. After he took a look at my blog it inspired him to make one of his own and I think that through this process he was strengthening his faith in God. Before it seemed as if he had given up on God but now he's a whole new person. I feel like God had used this boy in my life to show me that there are many others in the world who need this type of love and understanding, and a friend. He had also recently added a post called  Friends, it was about me and it showed me how much I impacted his life and how much he impacted mine.
If you want to visit his blog, and know more about him, here's the link:
http://goodformegoodforu.blogspot.com/

Monday, 27 June 2011

The Power of Prayer

Set time aside to pray each day, and really pray from your heart. Talk to the Lord about your problems and concerns; what makes you happy, and what troubles you.


God will answer even your smallest request and will give you happiness even if your plan does not line with his. Whatever decision God makes it will be the best for you. 


If you do not understand his plan for your life and are confused by what he's putting you through, he will be pleased if you pray to him and ask him to give you wisdom in order to understand. Prayer is what comes from the heart, it is not a routine that you say the same thing at a certain time, God wants different prayers each time, there will always be something new to pray about each day.