desire to connect

There is in the deepest and innermost being of man the need to connect.

I hear and read about it a lot - man's desire to connect, not being an island, or a lone ranger. As I walked through a row of establishments in a mall one day, I saw a man, grinning with excitement as he was taking a selfie with his meal - I quickly judged it was a selfie but then I saw and realized he was talking to someone using his device. In the next establishment I saw through the glass a young lady with long black hair, sitting at the bar facing me and the passers by. She was chatting happily with someone using her phone with her white earphones in her ears. How powerful indeed has technology evolved to bring us such a gift for us to connect with people!

Yet technology only aids our means to connect. What pushes us to connect is our deepest desire of being in touch with another. What fuels this desire is just that real longing of something that is inside us - a truth of what we lost and what we wish to recover.

The truth is - we were born united with the One who made us. We were separated from Him because of our ways which are against His intention for us and for our lives. Yet even though we willfully choose to do things our way, inside of us there is a yearning that can never be quenched. This yearning is to just be back with Him, be one with Him, and do His will.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst." John 6:35-40

throw your life away

To the young, throw your youth - your prime years to the Lord. To the elders, it seems that at this point, what this means is to throw your whole life away to the Lord!

- Andy Juan, March 28, 2016

PS. I paraphrase the statement above from a senior leader in the community I am a part of (Ligaya ng Panginoon). He was addressing the brothers of the Servants of the Word during an Alumni Night, himself being alumnus of the brotherhood.

life for a life

"As how I offered my Beloved Son to redeem your life, will you offer your life to redeem yours?"

faithful because He is

I've always considered it a grace from the Lord to be somewhat free from strong attachments which may distract me from quickly responding to His promptings. In a lot of my decisions in the past since my renewed relationship with the Lord, I recognize that God's hand has always held my heart close to His through this grace.

A good friend of mine pointed my natural tendency of being like this once and realizing it for myself, I thanked God for it! I tried to examine deep in my heart on where this was rooted and I could not find anything else but this verse:

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;

23 they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.

(Lamentations 3:22-23)

I am trusting that what lies ahead of me is according to God's plans, even in ways I cannot logically explain, because my God is faithful. Even just looking back at my life, at the many crossroads I've faced and the side trips I've taken, I look at this winding road and just see the hand of God. I see the hand of God directing my path in every step of the undiscerning ways I took and I see Him always directing me toward Him.

We can be trusting and faithful to the will of the Lord because our God is a God who is faithful in ways unimaginable and in ways beyond our rational mind.

This is a good reminder for all of us, even for me, when at times I find myself weak, beat down, and just fazed with so many things before me blocking my sight of the Hand that has always been there and the promise that it has always been leading me to.