"Faith" or "Faint" goals?

It’s not new for us to write down our faith goals and dreams that we are aspiring for this coming new year. We get emotional as the year ends -- we reminisce the good times and suppress the bad memories -- and we are all headed in a direction to make brand new beginnings for this new year. The faith goals that we try to work on could be our desires, needs, prayers or wishes for ourselves or other people, but our goals shouldn’t just be based in the emotional ground or they may just crumble down when whirlwinds of life hover on us. It can be frustrating for us. I also believe that goals shouldn’t be based on a pure logical perspective or we may miss God’s greater plan for us. Rather faith goals are to be planted and balanced in the faith ground and aligned with God’s will. Perhaps people can oppose our dreams and beliefs, just like how Nehemiah went through and how he struggled with some oppositional leaders who stated, “What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred ones at that?” and they continue to hurl insults at them... “That stone wall would collapse, if even a fox walked along the top of it!” (Nehemiah 4:2-3) But Nehemiah didn’t allow any kind of opposition to bring down his ”faith goals” and the dream of restoring Jerusalem’s walls. His faith didn’t faint. He had the eyes of faith. The faith that he had and the habit of praying grew much stronger even to the point of life & death matter (not that I’m saying you get yourself killed?) He also encouraged the people involved in the building of walls, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome." (Nehemiah 4:14) He constantly woke their spirit of fear into faith, since faith is the opposite of fear. He also exclaimed with the assurance of faith, “Our God will fight for us!” (Nehemiah 4:20)

From the start of His dreaming/planning state, to the journey of intervention of plans, up to the very period of success in everything, Nehemiah dedicated his whole heart and every decision & action unto the Lord. Putting God the center of everything… “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matt 6:33)

This faith challenge serves as a challenge for me as well-- to have the Nehemiah eyes-of-faith attitude: “The God of heaven will give us success.” (Nehemiah 2:20) Even before their success came to past, Nehemiah believed and stated those words from the very beginning when nothing yet was built; it became his blueprint in mind and heart, and he never doubted! Another thing, there is also nothing wrong in piling up our list of goals, but more importantly, we need to pile up our faith first as the very foundation all the way. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

“…And without faith it is impossible to please God.” Hebrews 11:6

When God speaks and builds, we uncover.

I always find it amazing when God speaks to us PERSONALLY and how He becomes RELATIONAL to humans like us. He doesn’t speak to us through audible voice, or else, I, myself, would drown in fear when I would hear Him calling out my name: “Joanna, Joanna..”

There is one of those recent events in my life that I’ve experienced how God communicated and conveyed His desires and plans to me, while I am in the midst of planning my future and hunting careers, as part of my transition to adulthood life. I’ve tried seeking jobs several times and took examinations to try out my “destiny” but it looked like they weren’t meant for me or maybe some were only meant for a certain, particular time. Some people “expected” and regarded me that I would be in a different field, not in the area of nursing. I failed most of the time with my attempts in trying out different careers. There was even once that I viewed failure as a mess up in life and most especially -- a shed off to my inflated pride. OUCH! Despite of all my tireless planning and tryouts for my future life, in fact, I’ve gone into a realization that my past failures were actually an avenue to the prayer that I’ve once asked! I remembered that there was an instance that I prayed to God: “Lord, whatever your will is, open the door wide on what you have really planned for me and shut all the doors down that are against your will.” In my case, I had feelings of partiality with regards to the failures I’d experienced. I’d been in half pain and at the same time grateful that He shuts down the doors that are against His will, for “the man’s steps are directed by the Lord.. How then can anyone understand His own way?” (Proverbs 20:24) Failing once in my life was a humbling experience, but it is NOT a defining moment for me as a person. If I didn’t fail at all, then maybe I wouldn’t be able to start all over again. God had a different plan in His mind for me and I knew it the time when He revealed to me in my quiet time in Psalm 84: “How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! …Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere.” With a concluding statement in the end of the chapter, “NO GOOD THING DOES HE WITHHOLD from those whose walk is blameless… Blessed is the man who TRUSTS in YOU.” (The whole Psalm speaks of a place where He has prepared for His people…) Before I came to stumble upon Psalm 84, I remembered that my mom advised me to make a reroute of my life plans and try out NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination), a Nursing licensure in the US. I saw that my mom’s statement of advice was verified by the Word of God from Psalm 84, which speaks of God having a different place prepared for me. There was also one gathering event that I’ve attended (during the halfway of my review for NCLEX) where a bowl (as in a fish bowl) containing tiny encouraging words/verses printed in pieces of paper that was being passed on to the whole crowd during the event, and the paper I picked and stumbled upon was from the words of Psalm 84 again. Even with God’s words of confirmation, there were still times that I was worried & anxious that I might fail just like before. But I knew God’s words were already speaking to me by that time. JUST RIGHT BEFORE THE DAY of my NCLEX examination, I had my devotion and surprisingly one of the references was Psalm 84 again. Another thing, ON THE DAY OF MY EXAM ITSELF, I encountered the word “nurse” for the first time in my entire life in the bible written in Isaiah 66:12: “….you will NURSE.” I felt that God was pumping me up already on the day of my exam! Besides His words of confirmation, someone has offered me a nursing job already in the US even before I took my exam, without me asking. I knew that everything paves already for an open door and God’s favor. My whole hope and trust rest in the hands of God who is in control of everything. But still my prayer before the exam remains the same, “Let Your will be done in my exam and let Your glory shine, not mine anymore.” I also prayed that I would only encounter a certain number of test questions and I wouldn’t experience any computations during the exam because math doesn’t seem to like me back. Haha. (Just so you know, the computer throws out questions in a random manner from a stored pool of thousands of questions). Another essential prayer for me was having a good bladder control since I always need to go to the restroom at least every hour especially in the morning (exam time was morning). Such aforementioned pleas were just simple prayer points, but when I called, He answered and fulfilled them. There is still so much to say about this experience, but the main thing is God orchestrates every event in our lives already even before we knew it. He does not withhold any good thing to those who put their trust in Him. The real secret recipe is to have a connection and genuine, growing relationship to God, even though tough times and the waiting process seem to get harder for us -- His hand would carry us into His loving will in His perfect timing and I knew I have to share this because this applies to all of us in different settings and stages. Isaiah 55:8: "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”

By all means, the conclusion is that, God speaks to us in a different means and it is always in a personalized way. He speaks to us and builds us up by……

1. Having first a genuine relationship with God. It’s a continuous & a renewing relationship and it does not stop in a day.     His words become clearer to us when we give, or more appropriately, make a surrender of our lives to Him.

2. When we dig into God’s word/bible, not just merely read. It is the only life manual handed FOR US and we get to learn the very character and nature of Christ.

3. When we give and open our hearts and ears for listening. Being patient in order to have a listening & seeking heart.

4. To have a daily, consistent quality time with God (a.k.a. Quiet time). It’s important to keep the growth of relationship with Him.

5. Read books that are biblically-based that will expound our view of God and our faith in Him.

6. Listening to Christian music or podcasts. For me, listening to K-love radio helps a lot. It is one of the most encouraging tool (and it is even life-changing and not boring) in the media world today. Check out the online radio: www.klove.com

7. Listen to the trustworthy people. God can use them to speak and build you.

8. Be discerning in every situation & circumstance we face. God has always something to say through every good and bad situation.

9. To learn how to quiet our emotions down, and to listen & have faith in Him.

10. To put off all our past “trust issues”, and mainly trust His word and the greatness of His being. “Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

11. Set aside pride because it gives us the bondage to hold on to ourselves more than God.

The first and most essential step is always to go back and commit ourselves to God with a fresh broken-spirit before Him. I always try my best to remind myself with this. Whenever we commit ourselves to Him, there is always a process accompanied, wherein we all must go through which is – ‘Being still and waiting patiently for the Lord amidst the trials and tribulations in life’: “COMMIT YOUR WAY TO THE LORD; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn… BE STILL BEFORE THE LORD and WAIT PATIENTLY FOR HIM.” Psalm 37:5-7

The assurance in life is having God’s spirit and power dwell in us as we get through the whole process of the long wait and trials: “By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the One who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence.” 2 Peter 1:3

With all that we have in life, we owe it to the One who substituted and paid the price for us on the cross, so why not live for His glory.

As my brother would say it, a USRN himself, "Two important things to become a USRN! Read your Saunders and Bible everyday! Yeah!"