TA-DA!

Fortitude!

February 5, 2008

11:53 PM

Whew, after spending 12 full hours over 3 days on a single lab assignment, I successfully coded my program! The wisdom of God must be on me cos' it was a very tough assignment, I'm really lousy at programming, and I've got more than a month's rust cos' I neglected revision for the whole semester break. :S CNY is coming, and the workload has relaxed a little (not for long!), and I've not contributed significantly to the CG blog yet, so I guess there's always a time to for a brand new start. :)

I've just did my quiet time over the message by Pastor Tan last service about fortitude, and it reminded me of my situation for the past one year or so. It seems like I'm facing persecutions in every phase of my life. After two gruelling years in NS, I'm immediately hit by a chronic uncurable illness, and I had to suffer through this even as I entered university, coupled with new problems of study stress and another chronic headache problem.

At times, I really felt like giving up and even wanted to blame God at certain junctures, cos' I really couldn't take it no more. Yet, time and time again, God reminded me of His goodness and that I should rely on His supernatural covering, instead of focusing on my problems and attempting to solve them using my own strength and abilities.

So, to me, this message is like a revelation and exemplification to the feelings which I felt so strongly over the past year, giving me a better understanding of God's words to me. 1 Peter 1:6-9 specifically jumps out to me, asserting that God will not pose a trial too hard for us to handle, and that by molding our faith AND fortitude, we'll emerge stronger than before.

I frequently find my faith and fortitude faltering when I get a relapse of my illness. After garnering valuable revelation from this message, I'll be sure not to have the old mentality and put on God's mentality.

I also remember Psalm 23, a Psalm of David, declaring his steadfastness in God despite the trials he was and would be going through. The transition from a third-person view to a first-person view "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;...", is a valuable insight that we should rely on God all the more when we're facing tribulations, instead of distancing ourselves from God and find ways and means to solve our problems using our own strength.

By the way, I want to take this opportunity to thank u great peeps, brothers and sisters alike, for praying for me and showing care and concern for the past 1 year plus. I really appreciate it! :)

Guys, no matter what circumstances you're in now, always remember this message about fortitude.
1) Embrace God's purpose in your situation
2) Nurture your spiritual roots
3) Direct your attention to Jesus Christ (God)
4) Use your experience to help others
5) Rely on God's power

That's all from me, for now. :D I'll be looking forward to our first connect group outing, coming up soon to see Gongfu Dunk lolx. I'll be more than willing and available to help my best buddy, Kelvin, with his new appointment as Connect Group leader, to make this outing a success!

I'm also looking forward to our CNY visitation plans this coming Sunday! It'll be a new twist to the same ol' boring CNY I experience every year.

God bless everyone! :)

Your crazy-only-on-Sat-cos'-of-KC brother-in-Christ:
Benedict