2017 was the year of growth, love, and tears.
I have gone to different places, gained a lot of lovely friends, climbed mountains that I never thought I would climb (see here and here), focused my energy at work and ministry, renewed my relationship with the Lord and spent most of my time with my Mama. And oh! We spent our last day of 2017 at our new house in Cavite! Never thought we’ll get to stay there since it’s not yet fully finished.
Before the year ends, God has been giving me these three words: PAIN, PROCESS, and PROMISES.
PAIN.
Pain is something inevitable to life, to success, and to growth.
Time and time again, we are experiencing pain, excruciating pain, that we can’t even thought we can surpass. These are just the days when you can’t get up on your bed, or you can’t stop asking yourself all the ‘why’s’ and ‘what if’s’.
But pain is crucial to growth. And in every pain, in any type of struggles and hurts of life, we will undergo a series of lessons that can be found only in our healing process.
PROCESS.
This is the part wherein after months of pain, all I can plead and ask God is to just stop the pain because I can’t take it anymore.
“Father, can You take this pain out already? I can’t take it anymore! Will you please? Let me just move forward without remembering anything.”
But then God talked to me days after that and revealed to me His that this season is not to inject more pain to me, but to reveal His very heart and character to me. That no matter what happens, His plans are greater than mine.
We can and will take it slow this time, together. God and I.
A Time for Everything
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
What I love about the process was this is the part where I have learned so much. Looking back, I thought I can never moved forward even a bit. But in this process, God has blessed me with so much grace, patience and understanding. He has been my strength during my trying times.
PROMISES.
Honestly, I never thought that God gives promises.
But more than that, I never thought that He will fulfill some of His promises. When I still didn’t know who Jesus is in my life, I would see every pain as penalty of my sins and that I deserve every struggle in my life. But year 2017 has been a great eye opener to me that in every process of healing, restoration and change of season, there are promises, big and small that can be fulfilled.