1 Thessalonians 5:18 reads:
give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Easier said than done, believe me, I know! BUT. It's not that hard when you see how God actually brings you through it.
I am in university, and have been here for about a year now (well, I had two years back in the Philippines and now it's my first year university in Canada) and I can honestly say?
I HAVE NOTHING TO BRAG ABOUT -- "If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness." (2 Cor. 11:30)
If I were to show you my grades right now, I won't be kidding -- they're STELLAR. But, I can honestly say IT'S ALL A PRODUCT OF GRACE.
Okay, so you might think this as false humility? But let me tell of how the story has been recently.
I'm taking a Political Science course this term, and since I've only been in Canada for about 8 months, I KNOW NOTHING OF CANADIAN POLITICAL STUFF -- yes, even the current events related stuff. I have no idea why I'm in this class, but it's already past the deadline for dropping courses, so I have to live with it.
We have to write a term paper for that class, and as expected, all the topics are specifics on anything Canadian. None of the essay questions made sense to me, except for the one that seemed broad enough -- one on Economic Inequality. So I went with that.
I thought I was all set. But boy, was I ever wrong. Days passed and I still couldn't get my head around the topic. It was too alien to make any sense to me. AND YES. I am such a lazy kid. Research should have solved my problems right? But I had this idea that there's too much to know about and too little time? So I was more tired thinking about it than actually doing it.
Yes, you've guess it -- I MISSED MY DEADLINE.
Well, technically, I did not miss it. I went to my professor on the day of submission and told him I could not submit my paper in-class that day -- after staring at a blank Miscrosoft Word screen till 3am, I decided to give up.
I kept praying, but I wasn't hoping for much; I know it's my fault, these are the consequences of my actions.
The next turn of events blew my mind -- my professor was all kind and accommodating, and he did NOT force me to submit. He gave me until Saturday 5pm to submit my paper (the deadline was Wednesday 10am, in-class). Moreover? There's supposed to be a 5% penalty for EVERY day late, BUT he spared me from that, he gave me a FLAT 5% deduction for being 3 days late! To add? He even helped me with where my paper was going!!!
Forget mountains, my God moves deadlines!
For all my university life, if not my WHOLE life -- academia or otherwise, God has been so gracious to me. I've always told my friends: I'm God's needy baby.
I'm a cry-baby who's so dependent on His father -- way too dependent at times. My stellar grades? Are really all just products of His grace. I do not work as hard as I should be, and I feel the consequences of that; but He's never let me down -- especially when I DO NOT EVEN DESERVE TO BE HELD UP.
GRACE
It really is UNDESERVED FAVOR.
Nothing spells SALVATION more than GRACE and LOVE.
God loves us SO much, He gave us love SO UNDESERVED, we can only vaguely call it "grace."
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (2 Cor. 12:9)
If I were to detail here how many times HIS GRACE came through for me in my 19years of existence? Wordpress would overload and I'd have to skip school for the next 38years -- spending two years writing for every year I lived.
God has really been gracious enough for me to even know of this and recognize His handy work.
The idea that God has a plan? And we just have to trust in His faithfulness? Are all too cliche to use to console people -- CLICHE BUT DEFINITELY TRUE.
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