When God Says No

"Treasures"

One by one He took them from me, All the things I valued most,
Until I was empty-handed; Every glistening toy was lost.
And I walked earth's highway, grieving, In my rags and poverty.
Till I heard His voice inviting, "Lift those empty hands to Me!"
So I held my hands toward Heaven, And He filled them with a store
Of His transcendent riches Till they could contain no more.
And at last I comprehend With my stupid mind and dull,
That God could not pour His riched into hands already full.

Here's a Sunday Service Message I find worth sharing...

Do you have some shattered dreams in your life today? Have things not turned out as you thought they would? Is there a measure of bitterness in your heart that you didn't get it your way?

Sometimes God says "NO" to our dreams and to our plans. When He does, it is not to defeat us or to discourage us. He does it because He has something far better than we could have ever imagined planned for us.

Some of you have witnessed the death of your dreams. You have watched as life has altered plans and dreams of your youth. But, I think if you will take time to look at all the Lord has done through your life, you will see that He had something far better in mind for you than you could have ever dreamed up on your own. God always has the best plan!

Don't let shattered hopes and dreams ruin your life. Find out God's dream and plan for your life. Connect with God and go with God.

When God didn't allow David to build a temple for Him, David didn't say:
"It's not fair. You're not treating me right. After all I've done for you, I deserve better than this."

Instead, David embraced God's dream and responded:
"You shattered my dream, but I accept your dream. I didn't fet my dream, but I'm beginning to see that your dream and it's a whole lot better than what I could ever imagined."

As a response to this message, we should pray:
"Lord, these are my dreams. If they are your dreams, let me see them fulfilled. But if they are not your dreams, help me turn loose of them, give them away over to you. Help me accept your NO and realize than in your NO, you have something far better planned for me. Help us hold lightly to this world, hold very lightly to our dreams and our wishes. Help us to reach things that please you. Help us to always pray, "Not my will but may God's will be done" You said NO to me, but I say YES to you and trust You to do what is best. In Jesus' Name, Amen"

Dear God,

I'm so tired, pressured and worried about so many things! I have two projects to finish and I dont know if I have enough time. everything seeems to go wrong! I know Lord that you are in control. You promised to never leave me nor forsake me. You are always by my side. You are always faithful even if I'm not. Never have you failed me. You have guided me throughout my life. Lord, I pray that you would guide me throughout this week. I feel that I can't make it. Sometimes I want to just give everything up. But I still hold on to your promise that you would get me out of the storm. Like you always do... Lord, guide me to be slow to anger. I know it's not an excuse to be angry when you're sleepy or tired or pressured. It's just so hard to control it sometimes. I'm sorry Lord for those times when I loose my composure. I lay down everything in your hands, Lord. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Tired and Sleepy

I left school around three this afternoon and went directly to church to practice for ahia eric calamiong's wedding. I arrived there around 4:45. The whole Metro Manila is flooded with cars!!! To think that I drive a manual car... I was sleepy, grumpy and my feet and arms were sore when I arrived. At around 5, ahia zach arrived. We sang a bit and I did a part of my project while waiting for the others. They arrived around 6 already! That's one hour late of the agree time. I honestly don't like late people. Late people give me this notion that they don't respect my time. If they don't respect my time, then they don't respect me. Like I don't have a lot of things to do. Late people only think of themselves and their convinience. Of course, I do not generalize all late people. I accept that things do happen. Like traffic or any other VALID reason. If that's the case, I don't have anything against them. :) We finished rehersing around 7. I stayed a while, had a chat with the people there while downloading a bible software recommended to me by Len. I left church around 7:15 and arrived home around 8 something. The traffic was still terrible. It usually just takes me 20-10 mins form church to my house on regular days. All in all, I drove for about 3 hours. It was excruciating! I wanted bump all the cars just to make my way home. I was so tired and sleepy and everyone in the road seemed to feel that way too. Nobody wanted to give way. Everyone was honking their horns madly.
When I arrived home, I quickly ate my dinner and went straight to bed. I fell asleep instantly. Blank... Until I was awoken by mom. That was around 10pm this evening. It took me about 10 mins before I was fully awake. I took a shower and started doing my MUMEDIA project. Now, I'm off to bed again. I still have to go to school tommorow for our WEBDEVE project. (*sigh) How I envy those who get to relax this weekend... Anyway, sembreak is just two weeks away. I hope I can survive. haha. That's it for now. Time to retreat to my dreamworld. CiaO!