Certain in God's Faithfulness?

I like to watch TV. I admit, sometimes I watch too much TV. And because I tend to forget the story after a while, it's become a habit of mine to re-watch my favorite shows from time to time. Looking at all those TV shows, I came to realize that I am a kind of person who likes to watch a strong and solid character. Series like Bones and Castle, my favorite kind ^_^, are very entertaining because it gives us 'perfect' characters who are very capable to do their jobs and in fact, at the top of their game. Though, like any other good stories, they often encounter problems, you'd still get the feeling that everything would be okay at the end because those leaders are good.

Other more challenging series like Life, however, is just okay for me because watching it can create an unsettling feeling. While it is a very good series, I often feel restless watching it because there is always a possibility that the lead character would do something stupid that can ruin his life. Call me silly, but I really don't like that feeling. For me, watching TV is supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable moment.

Anyway, why am I talking about TV series? Well, today devotion focuses on certainty in God's faithfulness. It talks about how Jesus, even through His last moment, was so certain in God's faithfulness that His faith radiates to His disciples and it guides Him through the suffering.

We all like certainty. It's kind of funny that way. Because there are many unpredictable events in our lives, we like to keep everything that's close to us very predictable. That's why trust and honesty become very crucial in any relationship because we need a certainty that we can count on those who are close to us in time of needs.

The question is how about our relationship with God. I know that I am not dependable, but can I trust God to be dependable? While it seems like an easy question to answer, I know that many times in my life, I doubt God for no reason. It's kind of sad that I found certainty in my favorite TV series but couldn't find it in my relationship with God.

Walker says, "Jesus was so sure that God's faithfulness would be present in all circumstances that his certainty radiated throughout his whole being" (2009, p.22). Wow... can I radiate with certainty? I guess that's a question I have to answer with my life.

Reflection 4: He Is Amazing

Today's devotion titled, "It's the 'WOW!', not the HOW" (Walker, 2009, p.16). Like the title suggests, the lesson today focuses on changing our perspective of what the Lord has done for us. Through this lesson, Walker (2009) challenges us to say "WOW!" for everything that the Lord had done instead of "HOW?".

While I am not opposing the idea to find the learn about bible and to dig deeper and deeper to get a little closer to the truth one step at the time, I think it is also very important to just stop for a moment and realize that His work is amazing. Maybe, we do spend too much time on figuring what God means when He gave us the account of creation that we often forget to stop and simply say "Wow! He created the heaven and the earth".

It's kind of ironic that we as Christians often boast about our God and how amazing He is, but very rarely show the world how amazed we are of Him through our lives. Instead, we come to others with our own defense mechanism and try really hard to convince others through our words. I guess, it is time for me to start saying, "WOW!" through my lives. After all, He is amazing God.

While typing this reflection, I am suddenly reminded of one of Chris Tomlin's song, titled "INDESCRIBABLE". I believe it reflects today's reflection perfectly. Here it is:

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
None can fathom

Reflection 3: Enabled by God

Today devotion is about how as Christians, when we walk in His way, are empowered to do great things. It sounds simple... incredibly simple... yet I have failed to display this in my life many many times. I think it's not really because I feel inadequate or uncertain about what I do, but it's more about being comfortable in doing nothing.

This reminds me of a writing by Nelson Mandela:
"Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate,
our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?'
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God;
your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone,
and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Connecting this with my previous reflection: "Can or Can't I?", I believe that great works start with a complete understanding of "I alone can't" which is followed with a journey to figure out that "with God I can".

For me, Moses is the best example for this. Being a prince, he had an attitude of "I can". However, having his life on the line, he ran away and started to realize that he can't really do anything. After years of being a servant and learning about humility, God came to him and called him out. His answer? "Thanks, but no thanks. Simply put-I can't, Lord". God's response? "Oh yes, you can! because I, the Lord, say so". From that moment forward, God used him incredibly to deliver the greatest miracles in the history of Israelite.

One question I often wonder: did Moses still struggle everyday about what God would do? We know from the bible that Israelite did, but how about Moses? There is no record about it. No fear of failure? No second doubt or second guessing God's calling?

One thing for sure, while I've learned about the end of Moses' journey, my journey has just started.