But God...

Went for Emmaus* tonight. As usual Egwin conducted a fabuuuuulous session... (Usually consisting of a cheem sea of words that I struggle to stay afloat in...) And the topic tonight was "BUT GOD"... (not the exact theme... but that was what the sharing was all about... I can't remember the original theme... *sheepish*)

Hrrmm... funnily enough, it was inspiring... Not that his other sessions were not. But after having being in the Catholic faith for a year thereabouts, "BUT GOD" strikes out at me... *Wham* AGAIN... It seems like a follow up on my previous entry on the musical... Kinda coincidental or what? But anyway, it's definitely "Food For Thought" material.

In his sharing, Egwin talked about how important it is to have a strong belief and faith in God as He will see us through alot of things. Remember that we are His sheeps and He is our sheperd?? Anyway, given God's almighty nature, why not?

And Egwin showed incidences in the Bible where things for God's people went wrong, BUT GOD pulled the people in crisis through... (I'm going to try to repeat what I remember in LAYMAN's terms... so don't penalise me for not sounding biblical... :P )

1) In the Book of Esther, Haman, King Ahasuerus' right-hand man (an eunuch) plotted to convince Ahasuerus (out of jealousy) to kill all Jews in all the provinces after Ahasuerus showered great honour to a Jewish man, Mordecai, for all the good deeds that he has done. However, the Jews were Godly people. And they had God's favour, for when that happened, the Queen was this Jewish lady, named Esther. And there was no way Haman can kill Queen Esther. The Queen who was actually the niece of Mordecai, was enlightened to realise that she was probably placed in the position that she was in, to save the Jews from being exterminated. Esther in the end managed to convince Ashasuerus that he cannot kill her, one who was his very own wife. And therefore, cannot kill the other Jews. The amazing thing was, she was actually the second Queen, replacing this BEAUTIFUL woman known as Queen Vashti. Queen Vashti fell out of favour with Ashasuerus when she openly disobeyed Ashasuerus' order. At that time, a woman disobeying a man was UNHEARD of, and therefore Ashasuerus 'excommunicated' her from the palace. While looking for another Queen, Esther fell in favour with another of Ashasuerus' eunuch who was in-charge of "Queen spotting". And therefore, she had all the help that she needed to be chosen as the new Queen. In summary, Jews faced a crisis, BUT GOD helped them.

2) The story of Moses... Now now... after the "King of Eygpt" cartoon... Who doesn't know the story? But yeah, the gist of it is that Moses, who was born a Hebrew child, was 'sent' away via the Nile (in a small, tiny basket) to be free from the hands of the Egyptians. At that time, the Pharaoh had commanded that every new male offspring among the Israelites must be drowned. And amazingly, Moses was found by the Pharaoh's daughter who wanted to keep him for herself. Moses sister, Miriam, had been trailing the basket all this while to ensure her brother's safety. However, Pharaoh's daughter spotted her, and asked her if she knew of someone who's Hebrew who could be the baby's nurse. By the work of God's hand, Miriam brought Moses back to their mother, who was to be paid to nurse Moses. When Moses grew up and was brought back to lead his life as an Egyptian, he was deeply disturbed and hurt by the way the Hebrews were being treated. And subsequently, God spoke to him and gave him powers to deliver the Hebrews. The Hebrews were very Godly people. In summary, the Isrealites were persecuted, BUT GOD intervened and saved them.

There are so many other incidences, and I am too lazy to type everything out... But read the Bible if you want to know more (Hahah.. actually telling this to myself because I've not touched the Bible since I got Baptised... nope.. am not supposed to be proud of it. Just acknowledging a fact...)

But anyway, remember I mentioned that we were facing some problems with the backdrop for the musical? BUT GOD gave us His blessings and Ivy (who appropriately happened to be in between jobs now and so she has time for the musical matters) came up with the MOST wonderful plan this evening! Sure, she spent like hours thinking of ways to go about the problem, but now that we have the layout, the rest are peanuts! Heheh.. "BUT GOD" provided us with IVY!

Which reminds me of another favourite song of mine... Which speaks FOR me... Yeah as always... Haha

"I THANK YOU LORD"

I thank you Lord, for the trials that come my way,
In that way I can grow each day, as I let you lead.
And thank you Lord, for the patience those trials bring,
In that process of growing, I can learn to care.

But it goes against the way I am,
To put my human nature down,
And let the Spirit take control of all I do.
Cause when those trials come,
My human nature, shouts the things to do,
And God's soft prompting can be easily ignored.

But I thank you Lord, with each trial I feel inside,
That you're here to help lead and guide, me away from wrong.
Cause you promised Lord, that with every testing,
That your way of escaping's, easier to bear.

But it goes against the way I am,
To put my human nature down,
And let the Spirit take control of all I do.
Cause when those trials come,
My human nature, shouts the things to do,
And God's soft prompting can be easily ignored.

Yes I thank you Lord, for the victory that growing brings,
In surrender of everything, life is so worthwhile.
And I thank you Lord, that when everything's put in place,
Out in front I can see your face, and it's there you belong.

Thank you dear Lord.

Reference:

* Emmaus is the name of this young adults' group that I joined sometime last year. It's mainly for young, professional people who are hopeless in the Catholic faith. OPPSSS... wrong... for young working adults who are keen to develop a keener interest in the faith... or in keeping their faith ALIVE....*grins*