Went for service today. The sermon by Pastor Kong left me totally disappointed with myself but at the same time happy that there is actually hope for me. It is totally true that our real self manifests when we are undergoing a crisis.

Take the story of Job. He is a person with great moral values, deeply staunch man, a priest to many, a king to the people and lastly a doting father to his kids. However, God allowed calamities to take place in his life in order to test him. In a short 24 hours, he lost all his great possessions, which is equivalent to at least 5 bill gates of current times, his animals (camels were the only mode of transportation back then) and all his children. Instead of blaming God, Job instead fell to his knees and worshipped God. "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord. " Satan was not contented and ask God permission to inflict pain on Job's health so that Job will turn his back on God. Yeah, nothing can happen to us without God's permission. And when God allows something to happen to us, it is because He loved us too much that He did not want us to remain the same. He wants us to be transformed. Job however proclaimed with increasing faith that God is Lord of His life.

How many of us will respond like Job in the face of adversity, trials and tribulations? I'm sure the numbers can even be displayed by the fingers on our hand. We must actually remember that we are not undergoing all these alone. Because when we walk with God, and rejoice in our circumstances, He will in fact watch over us. God is more interested in moulding our character instead of all our material possessions. God is not a program and we are not the programmer. Sometimes we pray and ask God how come He did not bless me with this and that, but He knows the path that we should take and that path no matter how dark it seems ,will make us the head and not the tail. Furthermore, the possessions that we have on earth is temporal. God loaned it to us, and we shouldn't let it lord over our lives.

In the same way, when a child falls sick, his body is actually fighting with the viruses and bacteria to develop an immunity against it. In the same way, God did not allow suffering to wreck us but allows us to build immunity towards it so that we will become a stronger person. Job 23:10 " But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. " Yes, we may not understand all this right now, but when we are obedient and have faith, we will emerge stronger.

Not my will but yours be done. Are you ready to make this calling?