Actually, I shouldn’t have this article for this day. I have another topic in mind. But since, I am having a hard time figuring out the right outline for that article, I decided to post this one since my neurons tell me that I must post this first. (Hhmm… Nag-eexplain pa, pwede namang wala. Hehehe…)
Okay. Fine.
I am really amazed about God’s grace. It seems that as a Christian, the word, ‘grace’ has been overused, harassed, unknown, and most often than not, misused and hackneyed. It’s like it has been considered as a Christian expression that it has seemingly lost its real value. I’m not saying that all Christians don’t give much value on the significance and usage of the word ‘grace’. But what I’m trying to drive at is the point that most Christians do not seem to acknowledge, appreciate, appropriately utilize and be thankful for it when it comes. Essentially, at first, one can really have a hard time identifying, appreciating, utilizing, and being thankful for it because it’s really the nature of grace. But if you are that sensitive enough to God’s ways and you have a deep and healthy relationship with Him, you won’t have this as a problem. In fact, the more we know and understand God’s nature, the more we can explore and appreciate His works and ways such as His grace.
Everyday, we are bombarded with different circumstances. And most of the time, it gives us stress, squeezes our character, stretches us to our limits, gets our joy of living, robs our budget, ruins our delicate faces (Delicate?! Baby?! Hehehe…), wounds our hearts and a long list of hurts and pains goes on. (Andami naman, buti buhay ka pa?! Hehehe...) How do we react on, in and with those situations? Do you easily grumble, or put the blame on God, or somehow would like to give up on life?
Well, at first glance, it is very easy for us to react on such things. But think twice!! Mag ‘hunos-dili’!! Aren’t you amazed on how God wakes you up with a ‘grand spotlight’? And that for the rest of the day it never fails to follow you in different angles? (Hehehe… I feel that way too, except during rainy seasons. Hehehe…) That every time you have no batteries for your alarm clock and you’re late to cook for breakfast, God has set a natural alarm clock that has an automatic snooze and by the time it stops you can fry it. (Hehehe… Whoala! Alarm clock turned breakfast. How frugal!) Aren’t you aware that God dresses the flowers of the fields without the flowers worrying on what uniform they should wear, or if they can still be considered a ‘fashionista’? Do you know that God has prepared the biggest and grandest eat-all-you-can buffet that no one can imagine? (Of course, we should discipline our eating habits. Not everything is edible in a buffet, right?! Some are intended to just garnish and not to be eaten. Don’t practice gluttony. Tsk. Tsk. Kaya maraming nauubusan sa pila eh.) Do you know that God has built the oldest university? Yeah, it’s the University of ‘Life’. (Hehehe… Syempre lahat enrolled. No hassle na sa pagpila sa Registrar at Accounting.) And aside from that, God, our Dean, has left us with the greatest teacher of all, the Holy Spirit. (Wow! Syempre pa, laging Siyang present. Hehehe…) Aren’t you aware that God never fails to give us our daily wage or salary or allowance on time? It’s only us who doesn’t know how to budget it that’s why most of the time we are always broke. In addition to that, most Christians are not paying their spiritual taxes like their tithes. Do you notice how God cheers us up when we are tired? For a mother, the laughter of a baby or her child, the success of raising up a well-mannered son or daughter, a nice long chat with friends or neighbors (Daldalan at tawanan to the max ito! Hehehe…), or even a shopping spree. For a father, an enough provision for his family, the assurance and security of his family members, a nice basketball game or chess tournament, a fixed ceiling or water pipe (Syempre sino ang gagawa?! Hehehe…), or even a new car. For a student/teenager, a passing grade, a nice remark from the teachers and his parents, an all-expense paid gimmick (In your dreams!), or even graduating with flying colors. For an employee, an on-time salary, a promotion, a longer nap after lunch (Huh?! Half-day ka na lang sana! Buti pumasok ka pa?! Hehehe…), the approval from the boss, or even a significant bonus. See how God showers His grace to all of us. Yet still we don’t notice, identify and in fact be thankful for it. We are always asking for a grand blessing to come or even to drown us before we become thankful, happy and satisfied.
Not to be too spiritual, but I believe that everyday God showers a sufficient amount of grace to sustain us. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) Blessings can come to us in many faces, natures or characters. They may be in disguise but we can still call them through their names. For a blessing that you’ve prayed and eventually God answered, then it is called an answered prayer. A blessing that you’ve worked for, it is called a fruit of labor. A blessing that you expect to come, it is called a provision. When a blessing has no human intervention or any human work involved or can’t be explained, it is called a miracle. When a blessing is noticed and shared, it is called a testimony. When a blessing is deserved, it is called a reward. A blessing earned is called a favor. A blessing observed is called a Godly experience. A blessing unnoticed yet expected is called a blessing in disguise. We can define more and more things about blessings as they come to us. And they actually bring us back to our senses.
I may not define ‘grace’ technically or spiritually. (Wow! Sa haba nun di ko pa na-identify. Tsk. Tsk. Hehehe…) I may not have the sufficient words to convince you how to define grace. It seems that every time I get to confine the word grace into a series of events, sentences, paragraphs, stories, testimonies, or even lives of different people, I always fail to consider more and more of it. It seems that grace like love can’t be placed in a box. I’m only left with reminder of the Calvary, the Cross and His Compassion. It may appear as too simple yet it is very sincere.
What is so amazing about grace? I believe it’s self-explanatory. A lifelong answer.
An undeserved blessing. Unnoticed. Unexpected. Undefined.
Okay. Fine.
I am really amazed about God’s grace. It seems that as a Christian, the word, ‘grace’ has been overused, harassed, unknown, and most often than not, misused and hackneyed. It’s like it has been considered as a Christian expression that it has seemingly lost its real value. I’m not saying that all Christians don’t give much value on the significance and usage of the word ‘grace’. But what I’m trying to drive at is the point that most Christians do not seem to acknowledge, appreciate, appropriately utilize and be thankful for it when it comes. Essentially, at first, one can really have a hard time identifying, appreciating, utilizing, and being thankful for it because it’s really the nature of grace. But if you are that sensitive enough to God’s ways and you have a deep and healthy relationship with Him, you won’t have this as a problem. In fact, the more we know and understand God’s nature, the more we can explore and appreciate His works and ways such as His grace.
Everyday, we are bombarded with different circumstances. And most of the time, it gives us stress, squeezes our character, stretches us to our limits, gets our joy of living, robs our budget, ruins our delicate faces (Delicate?! Baby?! Hehehe…), wounds our hearts and a long list of hurts and pains goes on. (Andami naman, buti buhay ka pa?! Hehehe...) How do we react on, in and with those situations? Do you easily grumble, or put the blame on God, or somehow would like to give up on life?
Well, at first glance, it is very easy for us to react on such things. But think twice!! Mag ‘hunos-dili’!! Aren’t you amazed on how God wakes you up with a ‘grand spotlight’? And that for the rest of the day it never fails to follow you in different angles? (Hehehe… I feel that way too, except during rainy seasons. Hehehe…) That every time you have no batteries for your alarm clock and you’re late to cook for breakfast, God has set a natural alarm clock that has an automatic snooze and by the time it stops you can fry it. (Hehehe… Whoala! Alarm clock turned breakfast. How frugal!) Aren’t you aware that God dresses the flowers of the fields without the flowers worrying on what uniform they should wear, or if they can still be considered a ‘fashionista’? Do you know that God has prepared the biggest and grandest eat-all-you-can buffet that no one can imagine? (Of course, we should discipline our eating habits. Not everything is edible in a buffet, right?! Some are intended to just garnish and not to be eaten. Don’t practice gluttony. Tsk. Tsk. Kaya maraming nauubusan sa pila eh.) Do you know that God has built the oldest university? Yeah, it’s the University of ‘Life’. (Hehehe… Syempre lahat enrolled. No hassle na sa pagpila sa Registrar at Accounting.) And aside from that, God, our Dean, has left us with the greatest teacher of all, the Holy Spirit. (Wow! Syempre pa, laging Siyang present. Hehehe…) Aren’t you aware that God never fails to give us our daily wage or salary or allowance on time? It’s only us who doesn’t know how to budget it that’s why most of the time we are always broke. In addition to that, most Christians are not paying their spiritual taxes like their tithes. Do you notice how God cheers us up when we are tired? For a mother, the laughter of a baby or her child, the success of raising up a well-mannered son or daughter, a nice long chat with friends or neighbors (Daldalan at tawanan to the max ito! Hehehe…), or even a shopping spree. For a father, an enough provision for his family, the assurance and security of his family members, a nice basketball game or chess tournament, a fixed ceiling or water pipe (Syempre sino ang gagawa?! Hehehe…), or even a new car. For a student/teenager, a passing grade, a nice remark from the teachers and his parents, an all-expense paid gimmick (In your dreams!), or even graduating with flying colors. For an employee, an on-time salary, a promotion, a longer nap after lunch (Huh?! Half-day ka na lang sana! Buti pumasok ka pa?! Hehehe…), the approval from the boss, or even a significant bonus. See how God showers His grace to all of us. Yet still we don’t notice, identify and in fact be thankful for it. We are always asking for a grand blessing to come or even to drown us before we become thankful, happy and satisfied.
Not to be too spiritual, but I believe that everyday God showers a sufficient amount of grace to sustain us. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) Blessings can come to us in many faces, natures or characters. They may be in disguise but we can still call them through their names. For a blessing that you’ve prayed and eventually God answered, then it is called an answered prayer. A blessing that you’ve worked for, it is called a fruit of labor. A blessing that you expect to come, it is called a provision. When a blessing has no human intervention or any human work involved or can’t be explained, it is called a miracle. When a blessing is noticed and shared, it is called a testimony. When a blessing is deserved, it is called a reward. A blessing earned is called a favor. A blessing observed is called a Godly experience. A blessing unnoticed yet expected is called a blessing in disguise. We can define more and more things about blessings as they come to us. And they actually bring us back to our senses.
I may not define ‘grace’ technically or spiritually. (Wow! Sa haba nun di ko pa na-identify. Tsk. Tsk. Hehehe…) I may not have the sufficient words to convince you how to define grace. It seems that every time I get to confine the word grace into a series of events, sentences, paragraphs, stories, testimonies, or even lives of different people, I always fail to consider more and more of it. It seems that grace like love can’t be placed in a box. I’m only left with reminder of the Calvary, the Cross and His Compassion. It may appear as too simple yet it is very sincere.
What is so amazing about grace? I believe it’s self-explanatory. A lifelong answer.
An undeserved blessing. Unnoticed. Unexpected. Undefined.
(I got the title from Phillip Yancey’s bestselling book. I didn’t have the chance to talk to him about this, but I will be when we meet each other either at joint fellowships, or at the ‘traysikelan’, in parties, in gimmicks, or in cooking seminars, or at any place convenient for him. (Wow! How courteous of me! Hehehe…) Honestly, we don’t know each other, but soon we will be. (As if!! Hehehe…))
6 comments:
hi!!! nice article huh.it served as a reminder to me about how amazing the "grace" of God is. Undeserved, Unnoticed, Unexpected, Undefined. Galing!! Can't wait to share this to my frendz.God is GOOD tlga. God bles ya! :)
Thanks. To God be the glory! Wait for more.. God bless.
hi. dhen here..(haynako finally. hehe.)hmm i never expected this article you had been talking about lately would be give me such impact.. powerful i must say.. and wala pa pala sa kalahati yung description mo about it. hehe. i learned a lot, made me realize a lot of things, and san ka pa, nag-enjoy ako basahin. hehe.. (i had a lot of fun interacting with your other side na walang sawa sa pagcocontradict sayo.. hehe) four thumbs up for this article. (kasama yung sa paa..) six stars pa. (sino maysabing hanggang 5 lang? ) hehe.. thanks for opening my eyes to how vast yet so handy grace can be.. i hope maraming makabasa ng articles mo. it deserves a crowd of avid readers. nax.
i'll be giving my comments on the other articles very soon. limited kasi time di ko nabasa yung iba.
therefore, i conclude.. (yes, experiment?) this article is a must read. idol!hehe.. God bless!
P.S.: naman.. may maling grammar. hehe. "would be giving" pala hindi "would be give". kinapos. hehe. ang ganda kasi ng article eh. like you,im so struck with how amazing grace can be.. (lulusot pa eh no?) haha. Godbless.
WOW! Hi Dhen! Thank you very much for appreciating my article. I hope you could also inspire others through letting them see your thoughts, views, opinions, ideas and concepts through the lens of God's grace. Alam mo sobrang na-touch din ako nung ginagawa ko ang article na ito. Kasi noong ginagawa ko ito, I was so restless and exhausted physically and mentally. Sabi ko, "I need to finish this article so that others can still be blessed even in my lowest moments". Praise God for this article. To God be the glory! I'm excited to see more of your comments to my other articles. Hehehe.. God bless too.
Galing talaga ni Lord! He's so amazing!
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