WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU CONFUSION

I shall return! - Gen. Douglas McArthur

Do You ReallY KnoW YouRSElf?? IF yOU ArE GoiNG to Ask mE tHe SamE QuEstIoN, I woULD deFiniTeLy tELL yoU I dO noT. SimPLY BecaUsE I aM inTO conFUsiON. FoR ThE PasT FeW WeEks, I cOULd haRDLy unDErsTanD WHaT I ReaLLy waNt in My LiFE. QueStioNS, anD DouBTs, oveRWheLM thE InNeR ParT oF My BeiNG. ThERe ArE ThiNGs ThaT I Do, EmOtiOns thAt I FeEL, aND ThouGhTS thAt ComE IntO mY MinD thAt aRE nOt acCePTaBLe To Me BuT TheY'rE ReaLLy There--eXiStiNG, ReAL, AliVe. LiFe iS meaNT tO be ENjoYeD oF BuT iT seEmS tHat I aM NoT LiVinG wItH iT aS iT iS.

===============================================
NEXT ARTICLE:

THE SEMESTRAL BREAK BEGINS

THE STORY OF A YOUNG MAN

There was a young man who has been inflicted with painful experiences for years. When he was sixteen, he received Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord. For three years, he is haunted with bitter memories of his past. Since that time, his one goal was to overcome or at least reduce the pain in his heart. Because he was a committed Christian, things like drinking, although tempting especially at his young age, were out. He felt reluctant to allow himself to become close to anyone, and therefore shared his burden to no one.

Contrary to what he's been expecting, he fell again to sin. Enticed with the worldly passions, he began to associate himself with his former friends--what he considered his "barkadas". Until such a time that Satan finally caught him in his net. He was so weak, frustrated, confused and no one seems to understand him. People around him whom he considered his "spiritual leaders" could not take the reality that he fell to a deep abyss. He could not feel the love and care from them. Or maybe he could not grasp it that time. He became rebellious, letting himself be influenced with things that are in this world.

And here comes the "turning point" of his life--he then realized that he has to stand up, to be firm in his faith, to show the world that God is able in his life. He met persons who helped him a lot to become strong in the Lord. In spite of these, there is still longing in his heart that is unmet. The only method he'd found that could soothe his throbbing soul was to become active in the ministry. Once more, he attended church regularly, pray as often as he could, participate in his para-church ministry where he is involved, and the list goes on. In his understanding of things, he was turning to God for help. He was renewing his mind through time in the Word. Whenever the images of his past crowded into his mind, whenever the circumstances that lead to his downfall flooded him, he quickly reached his Bible and read verses. He quickly prays to the Lord that all those things fade away totally from his memory and he firmly believes that God will answer. For three years, he'd been following this procedure. As a result, he became nervous. His life presented him with a level of pain he was determined not to feel.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The young man obviously wanted to relieve the ache in his soul that comes from unsatisfied longings. When the pain of rejection, isolation, failure, and weakness began to creep in his stomach, he feels like he's approaching to death. His very survival seems to depend on numbing the pain and finding some way to feel better. Eating, going with his friends, masturbating, studying, joining church activities, etc.--the young man got to do something to avoid the paralyzing ache he fear so deeply. And that was a routine for three years! The simple fact that he has to face is this: Something is wrong with everything! No matter how closely he walks with the Lord, he cannot escape the impact of a disappointing and sometimes evil world. A core sadness that will not go away is evidence not of spiritual immaturity, but of honest living in a sad world.

Now that the young man has found his strength and joy of his salvation in the Lord, he is enjoying God's presence with gladness. He draws hope from others who are learning how God meet them in their struggles. He longs for what he designed to enjoy: It's okay to desire. And he want what he cannot have until Heaven: it's okay to hurt. Jesus said: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come and drink."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am thirsty. I long for what I do not have. I'm already a Christian. Insofar as I know my heart, I will follow Him for the rest of my life..
====================================================
NEXT ARTICLE:

MAN'S UNSATISFIED LONGINGS

MAN'S UNSATISFIED LONGINGS

Sometimes, it's hard for us to accept the reality that we need people, we need companionship. Maybe because we see ourselves strong. We try to hide the ache that is brought about by the unsatisfied longing we have in relationships, longings that we look in people whom we consider important part of our lives. But the reality still remains: People will not always satisfy us. There are times that we just cry in the corner because of unexplainable feelings we feel. We are just left confused. Instead of running to God, we run away from Him. We try to ignore to face the reality. We are afraid. We immediately dig our own wells, which, we think would somehow satisy any thirstiness that we have in our hearts.

Lord, may we feel Your unconditional love for us. In times of distress and loneliness, comfort us. Give us strenght and courage to face the internal realities of life. Help us to realize that people will not always satisfy our longings of our souls. It is only in You where we could find rest.
=====================================================
NEXT ARTICLE:

THE STORY OF NORAIDA: AN OFW

JEALOUSY 101: A CANCER OF THE BONE AND A FIRE THAT BURNS THE SOUL

All of us have emotional needs. As social beings, we want to belong to a certain group of people. In the process, we meet person/s who is/are closer to our hearts than the others and whom we consider to be more special than the others. Sometimes we don't understand why we feel that way. From them we draw strength, love, comfort, and encouragement. We are able to build more confidence when we are with them. We love their company. It seems that our life is complete when we talk, play, eat, etc with those people whom we value.

However, there is a danger on this. In any human relationship, jealousy is always present at different degrees at some point in our lives. It would depend to the person how would he going to handle it. And i believe to feel jealous on someone is not just common but also natural. However, when we overly express this emotion in a very negative way, the result is not good. We may become possessive. We are hurt when someone becomes close to the person whom we consider our "life".

Jealousy is just like a cancer of the bone. Little by little, our mind and our heart are being swallowed up into the dark pit of selfishness. It's a fire that burns our soul. It ignites the fire in our hearts to take revenge, to hate, to envy, to feel mad, to be anxious, to feel alone, to doubt ourselves and even paranoia. When it consumes our thoughts and triggers to harm relationships and harm other person/s, there's really a big problem to deal with. It would weaken our personality. It would destroy our relationship with people. It would destroy our relationship with God.

If we fail to deal the problem, this would be a monster in our life forever. Until one day, we will wake up in our beds downtrodden, far from God, far from the people we truly love. Do you want to live in solitude for the rest of your life? I have a suggestion: Become jealous selfishly and manifest it through words and actions. The choice is yours.
============================================
NEXT ARTICLE:

TO AN UNKNOWN KUYA (ORIGINAL VERSION)