Touchstones

God is truly merciful indeed, and today He heeded my cry. Last night (as described more fully in the previous entry), I sought and found His reassurance, and today He illuminated my path ever-so-clearly, just when I thought I was getting off track.

I forget who it was (I think it was St. Ignatius, but I could be wrong) who said that if you're feeling unsure about anything, return to your "touchstone" - the one thing (or in some cases, the one person) that best assures you of the certainty of the Divine plan. For me, the one thing that best assures me is He Cares, because I am now certain beyond any doubt that God led me here a year ago (technically on June 6, 2004 at The Feast, but I first set foot in He Cares on June 9); and the one person who best assures me that God's plan is indeed perfect beyond anything we can imagine is He Cares' Kuya Joe Dean.

And so today, I returned to He Cares and found Kuya there, and God did not disappoint through the workings of these "touchstones" of my life. Kuya, in an rare impromptu one-to-one "usap tayo Hon" session, asked me a question I'd somewhat been anticipating for quite a while - it's been something I've been praying I'd be able to step up to - but just through his mere act of asking (this time seriously, not just in his usual joking "pa-hagings") God's floodlights shone upon the road I've been treading and showed me the direction I must take - or, should I say, continue to take. Kuya also brought up another matter I've relegated less priority to, but he got me thinking nonetheless (hard not to, especially since he's seriously mentioned the subject at least three times in the last six months!) - he cast an interesting light as well upon that particular aspect of my life, hmmm... Kuya the prophet? We shall see...heh heh.

Oswald Chambers' reflection for today spoke volumes when I read it during this morning's prayer time, and it's been given even greater significance after today's "little" miracles. Even now when I read it again, I am reminded of how, a year ago, God had to cut the lines that tethered me to the comfortable waters of the harbor - and what a beautiful experience it's been just sailing in the direction of His wind.

June 8
What’s Next To Do?

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them .
—John 13:17

Be determined to know more than others. If you yourself do not cut the lines that tie you to the dock, God will have to use a storm to sever them and to send you out to sea. Put everything in your life afloat upon God, going out to sea on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself— begin to have spiritual discernment.

When you know that you should do something and you do it, immediately you know more. Examine where you have become sluggish, where you began losing interest spiritually, and you will find that it goes back to a point where you did not do something you knew you should do. You did not do it because there seemed to be no immediate call to do it. But now you have no insight or discernment, and at a time of crisis you are spiritually distracted instead of spiritually self-controlled. It is a dangerous thing to refuse to continue learning and knowing more.

The counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you create your own opportunities to sacrifice yourself, and your zeal and enthusiasm are mistaken for discernment. It is easier to sacrifice yourself than to fulfill your spiritual destiny, which is stated in Romans 12:1-2 . It is much better to fulfill the purpose of God in your life by discerning His will than it is to perform great acts of self-sacrifice. "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice . . ." ( 1 Samuel 15:22 ). Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been. "If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know . . ." ( John 7:17 ).