The Beacon of My Responses

THE BEACON OF MY RESPONSES

Psalm 123:3-4

 3) Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt. 4) Our soul exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.

 

We cannot control how people feel and think about us, but we can always choose to refuse to be bitter and ill towards them.

The most important lesson in life that my mother taught me which until now by the grace of God, I am trying to live out is, not to hate those people who wished to see me fail and crawl on the ground. I’ve seen how she responded with those who belittled and degraded her.  She’s the type of a person who will not share her struggles with other people not until it’s done and solved. She faced the battle with tears in her eyes and with her knees bent before God: God’s answer would always give her some goose bumps for she never desired nor asked the LORD to perform something terrible things to happen to those who hurt her to console her wounded heart. She only shared her pain, and asked the LORD for healing. But, literally, right after she prayed the angel of destruction, famine, sickness, death, and sword came to the house of those who oppressed her. When bad things happened to those who put her down, she went back to God and cried again for mercy towards them. Then she made herself available to help in their calamities. That’s why when it comes to dealing with oppression; my mother’s faith and experiences turned to be the beacon of my responses.

If I am not mistaken, it was 2005 when we were forced to move out from the ancestral house of my father. His siblings decided to tear down the old house, though not everyone was ready for it, most especially us. But they did it anyway.  I was already working at that time, but my salary wasn’t enough to rent a house. We ended up renting a cart to carry our things to a very small room. My mother was in Bukidnon when it happened, it was only me and the family of my brother were here. When my mom heard about it, she came to us right away. The very first thing that she told us was, “Don’t let hatred reign in your heart towards your relatives, especially to your father’s siblings. Don’t lose your respect for them. Take it as God’s will. The LORD knows our situation; He will surely help us.”

My mother went to the lending company where her pension in SSS was loaned for years. She went there not to loan again but to get her change that she didn't get for months. While she was talking to her friend about our situation, how small the room we're renting, the manager of the lending company overheard the conversation, and then she interrupted and said, “Why, what happened to your house?” Then my mother narrated everything. To my mom’s surprise the manager said, “Why don’t you start building your own house? You can renew your loan even if it’s not yet fully paid.” My mother was hesitant to accept the offer, but the manager insisted and said, “Take it, don’t you know that you are the only lender that the company give this kind of offer despite of your existing balance? Do you see these people lining up here, many of them are begging to renew, but we don’t allow them. Just consider this offer as God’s answer to your prayer.” So, my mother took the offer because of the manager’s last statement. Our relatives were surprised, for they knew that we didn’t have money, but it didn’t take weeks, we came back with all the materials needed for us to start building our own house.

Now the next challenge was we didn’t have our own water to use for the construction, though our relatives have, but they didn’t offer, even if they saw us fetching water from a distance. But when our nearest neighbour found it out, they pitied us; they offered their water with a hose. Yet, despite of everything, my mother reminded us not to feel offended with our relatives; instead, we should be thankful to God for not abandoning us in times of need. So, we only stayed in that small room for a month. By the grace, mercy, and help of God, we were able to go back to our place, in our own house. Though it’s not yet really finished, but it’s a lot better than a small room.

 Indeed, God is our faithful Father! He works in ways we do not see. And what can we render to God for all His benefits but to proclaim and declare His marvelous grace and goodness! Let's do it while we are still alive. For this is the only legacy that we can leave to the next generation, and to the generations to come. God is good all the time. Let's not get tired of giving glory to the LORD JESUS CHRIST!