Once, I saw a movie
about a man who is about to take his life by jumping off a bridge because of
his problems. But when he was about to
do it, he saw a woman at the other side of the bridge wanting to jump off
too. So instead of pursuing his end, he
hurried to the other side to prevent the woman from jumping. Soon after saving her from committing
suicide, he realized how tiny his problems were compared to hers. He then helped her overcome her difficulties,
forgetting his own problems and the desire to take his life.
I just felt the same
way. Not that I am contemplating to jump
off a bridge (I need to travel at least 30 minutes to find a bridge where I can jump off and I am afraid
of drowning) but, many times, in the last four months that I realized how small
my problems were compared to what other people are experiencing. After helping them, I didn't just forget my
own problems; my heart is also filled with an overflowing joy. It is as if, my own problems are solved when
I see other people recovering from theirs.
Just like when me and my
son got sick with a viral infection which rendered us so weak with high fever
and rashes for two days. It was scary
because it happened during the height of the Dengue incidence in Metro
Manila. Josiah almost died three years
ago because of this virus. Thank God it
was not, on the third day, we recovered as if nothing happened.
A few days after, we
heard that a pastor friend of ours lost his wife and daughter due to
complications while she was giving birth.
I found myself
forgetting my own problem and made all possible means to visit him. What a joy indeed just to provide a listening
ear and an encouragement to a grieving friend.
We left knowing that God has strengthened and encouraged him.
Same thing happened when
Lois, my daughter injured her knee.
We're back at the hospital again in a span of three months. With mounting bills to pay, we couldn't
afford another trip to the hospital. To
make it worse, I know that we don't have a house to stay in a matter of
months. We're staying in a parsonage of
the church we are serving and according to the agreement we made with the
church leaders, we can only stay until October 2012. If not for the goodness of the leadership of
the church who extended our stay in the house we are using right now, I don't
know where we will be staying.
While her knee was
receiving treatment, an urban poor community close to where we are ministering
was being demolished. Violence erupted
and a score people were injured. A lot of
people lose their houses, illegal they may be, they now don't have a place to
stay. Members of our church who are also
using a plot of land not their own just a stone throw away from the demolition
site are now in fear that they will suffer the same fate. Where are we going to put more than 20
families if the owner of their land decides to evict them? It doesn't help either to know that Christmas
is just around the corner.
Again, all my troubles
seem to evaporate in the light of what my members might face in the near
future. That week, as I think of how I
will encourage them, the opposite happened.
Instead of me encouraging them, they are the ones who encouraged
me.
One of my workers told
me that instead of being afraid, some of our youth in that community started to
say, “Let's dream that God one day will give us a house of our own - a big
house with many floors and rooms. All
families can live there. We have a big
God; there is nothing impossible for Him!
When I heard that, I
realized how small my faith is. I also
realized why the Lord is letting us pass through some difficulties, trials and
challenges the past few months. So that
we can encourage those who need it by the same encouragement we receive from
the Lord.
I remember Paul once
said, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion
and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can
comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from
God (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
