Faith Unravel

I am a believer. And when I say such, it means I stand firm for my faith and not my religion. I accept the teachings of the church but more to that, I understand the enlightenment He is showing me. I respect the stand of the church but I admire more His sincerity in serving His people. Having a religion is way too different from having a strong and unbreakable faith.

My journey in discovering what faith really means was tough. I had to unleash myself from what it seemed like quick sand of weaknesses and disappointments. It was a Herculean battle between my ego as a worldly person and His voice directing me to the right but tormenting path. It took time before I tossed away my mundane attitudes and finally gave up myself and everything else to my Mighty Creator. It was hard to turn my back from what used to be my world but in the end, it was the best decision I ever made in my entire life.

If you are observant enough, you will, for sure, pin- point what’s wrong with people’s belief. Inside the Holy House, you see people earnestly praying for their petitions. They look so sincere in praising and worshiping Him. Seeing them can make you say, “wow, these people have a very strong faith in God”. But the truth is, they’re like Pharisees praying in loud voices just to amaze people. Empty tin cans with a nice cover to woo the “not-so-strong-faith-people”.

However, these kinds of beliefs don’t last long. Sooner or later God will work His way into your life. He will slap you big time for you to realize that you’re leading yourself to your early death- a meaningless death. He will pull you out in your chosen life and will put you in an even harder experience- a challenge that looks like a maze with no ending. He will do these things to hurt you, to wound you. He wants to see you bleeding. He wants all of these not because He is happy seeing you getting hurt but because these are the only ways for you to appreciate the value of looking up to Him. And when such time in your life comes, learn to open up your heart and mind for the changes God wants to take place. Don’t resist the enticement of God’s Holy Grace. Instead, have a reaction like magnets- when He is calling you, you should have no other reaction but to be attracted to Him.

Yes, standing firm with your new faith is not easy. There are times that you will step backward and you will feel like you can’t do it- that you can’t surrender yet your worldly character. You don’t have to be rattled, you just simply need to kneel down and pray. Ask for guidance and resistance from temptation. No need to worry that you might go back to your old self. Just like how God waited for the perfect time to change you, your full acceptance of what God wants you to do will come- in His own perfect time. And when you finally accepted God’s definition of faith, that would be the only time for you to realize the real purpose why God took time to design your life. Yes, you do exist for one unique purpose.

Faith is not about how well you follow your religion’s teachings and laws. It’s not how loyal you are in attending church activities. It’s not how often you visit your church or how many Saints you are praying to. Faith is all about your conviction to God’s unending grace and forgiveness. It is about how well you will reject all other thoughts and just focus your heart and mind to God. But more importantly, faith in God is the most powerful armor we have to keep us going in life when everybody else is asking us to retreat and just give up. Faith will never fail us.