Day 18 [yesterday]

But as for me, I will always have hope; 

I will praise you more and more

-- Psalm 71:!4

Yes, yes I know this is a day late. I was a tiring day, and I slept at a quarterly to 8 last night. Probably the earliest I've slept. Ahehe.

Reading Psalms 67-72, I've come to realized just how stressed David was - he was constantly asking God for strength and for deliverance of his enemies. If someone were to do that now, they'd probably be considered wimpy by most. But to me, it just shows just how dependent he truly is on God. And really, how many people do we know today that will run to God for all the things that are happening to them, whether good or bad? Sometimes, even when we've been Christians for so long, we tend to forget that there is a powerful God who has our backs, who will never let us go through tough situations alone. 

As for me, I've come to learn this the hard way. 

Head knowledge is quite different from the knowledge - rather wisdom - that we get from our actual experiences. And God has had to make me go through several experiences - each one increasing in levels of intensity - to make me realize that I never have to go through things alone, that even if I find people undependable, I can depend on Him. 

That's what I think this passage is about, actually, even all the other passages that consists of David's asking for help from God. God is in control. He will always be and always have control over our lives, our situations, and our endeavors. And of course it's going to be difficult. As Pastor BJ told us in camp, as humans, it's practically a necessity for us to be in control of something - especially the way things that happen in our lives. But then, it's something that we - myself included - have to practice; letting God be in charge. We are never the masters of fate, nor the captains of our soul. God is, and forever will be. 

That is why I chose that passage that I placed at the beginning of this entry. Because knowing and realizing all of these things, it gives me hope. That all the things that we're experiencing now is just a teaser of God's master plan. I have hope that this thing that I'm going through is just for now. I have hope that I will come out of this situation stronger and wiser that I've been before - and that's because my God believes in me. 

So I'm thankful for this hope, the one that I know only comes from God. I'm thankful that I can place my hope on the One who will always be faithful and constant in my life. Because while it will be hard, depending on Him completely, there's really no other way to it. We have to let go and let God. Just that, when we're faced with difficult situations, we just need to go back to our Bibles and remember His promises for us and talk to Him. Iyon lang naman ang gusto Niya para sa atin e. It's difficult, but we have to try. 

After all, He did die for us.