Gloom to Glory

August 7, 2012, 8pm
And the monsoon rains keep on pouring down...It's been raining like crazy. I wonder when the rain will ever stop, it's relentless. Watching the news of flood victims breaks my heart. Water levels are at the roof tops in many areas. Some flyovers are almost caught up by flood. While all these are happening, my wife Michelle can give birth anytime. She's starting to feel the contractions. It's probably the worst time to go to the hospital since the streets are flooded and our doctor's residence area is also affected by it. It's a gloomy situation on the streets as I made my way to buy some emergency groceries. There will be days of gloom in our lives. But gloom doesn't mean doom. Times like these remind us that there are things beyond our control and that Someone bigger than us can help.Days of gloom bring us down to our knees before God. We are brought to a point of an honest and sincere conversation with Him. Yes, the trying times will bring us closer to Him. We may find it hard to understand His plan for us, specially in painful circumstances. Our 'rational' minds and the feelings in our hearts are too primitive compared to God's infinite wisdom and love. Yet, our Lord Jesus showed us the way to the Almighty by teaching us to relate to God as our Father. Like a little child, there are things that we cannot comprehend about the father's ways. We sometimes cry over things that we do not know can be good for us in the future. Days of gloom are allowed by the Father so we can bloom in the strength of our faith.There will always be times of testing, especially in days of gloom. Here we come to know our true self; where we stand, what we believe in, our level of courage, and the depth of our faith. We might breakdown or breakthrough. We can either lose hope or find faith. We were not created puppets. We were created as children in His likeness. With the gift of life, through His love we are granted the freedom to choose. Hoping that we choose what is right, what brings life, and what reflects His love. Times of testing, these days of gloom, will surface our weaknesses and how far our pride and self-idolatry has taken us. We pray to God for mercy and the grace to embrace humility.Gloom does not mean doom. There is hope in every person and in every season. The best in us also surface in these times. Our heroism, our faith, and our love go the distance in these unusual occasions...if we choose to. Christ, in His days of gloom suffered and died. His sacrifice was not that of doom, but of resurrection. From gloom to glory.Let us then choose as what Christ had chosen in His days of gloom. He chose the Father's will amidst excruciating and unimaginable physical and emotional pain. Christ's heroism cannot be surpassed for He saved us all. He chose to see the glory of God beyond the gloom.
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Super Heroes

Yesterday, my son Sev was getting his picture taken with comic super heroes. These super heroes have been around for years, capturing the imagination of the young. What is in superheroes that attract us to them? I could identify some. One is that they have special powers. Another is that they save others' lives or they are able to the world from destruction. And probably one more is they have interesting struggles in life.

These super heroes have a lot of things similar to us. Like them, God gives us special powers (1 Corinthians 12:4-11), the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He gives us the power to serve. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8)."

With these powers, we are able to be used by God to save the souls of other people. So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls (Acts 2:41). We use God's strength and power to be able to be soul savers. By evangelizing people, we also build a people who are good stewards of God's creation and a people who will strive to bring God's love to all cultures of different nations "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19)."

While we do our best to be God's disciples, we also face our daily struggles and victories. Our lives are living testimonies of God's goodness. They say that the world doesn't need more preachers but more witnesses. I believe each of us has a story to tell. A story of conversion, a story of overcoming struggle, a story of surrendering to the Lord. All these we shall use for God's glory, bringing others closer to our Lord.

We are more like these Super Heroes after all. But the greatest hero of all is Jesus. He died and suffered for our sins, that we may live the fullness of life. Now that's heroism. May we be more like Christ everyday, responding to His call with heroism.