Dedicated to A Friend Abroad

Dear Friend,

Hindi ko man alam ang pinag-dadaanan mo, but one thing’s for sure – God knows it very well.

Mahirap mag-isa. Mahirap malayo sa home country. Kala ng mga Pilipino sa Pinas, ang buhay abroad ay Masaya at fulfilling. Unless na talagang itinakwil mo na ang sarili mong bansa, gugustuhin mo paring umuwi ng Pinas.

Right now, you are in crossroads. Pressured ka ng mga bagay na nangyayari sa’yo. Gusto mo nang mag-quit. Gusto mo nang mag give-up. It may seem that your life is stagnant at walang patutunguhan.

Who is there to guide you? Who is there to counsel you apart from parents, close friends or from God but the spirit of confusion? It is causing you to be emotional and to do a dangerous thing – gumawa ng desisyon habang emotional.

My friend, your Lord Jesus knows very well how you feel. Naramdaman rin niya ang nararamdaman mo ngayon.

Jesus, like you, felt lonely while in a foreign land. He encountered His own crossroad. Will He choose to die or not?

Pero kahit maraming gumugulo sa isip Niya. He went alone to pray to His Father at umiyak. He told God what is in His mind and just wept and wept.

Why not do the same? Hinihintay ka ni Lord na mag spend ng alone time with Him. Complain to Him kung gusto mo. Speak all your thoughts about what is happening in your life to Him. Sigawan mo Siya. Cry to Him. Whatever you feel like doing. God passionately desires for that alone time with you.

I tried doing this. At ever since it worked for the first time, naging habit ko na ito. I was mad at God. I complained at God. I blamed Him for the things that happened in my life. Sinigawan ko rin siya sa galit ko sa sarili ko at sa mga nangyayari sa’kin.

But the good thing about this is that God understands what I felt that time. He overlooked my bad attitude in front of Him. “Wa siya care.” He just wanted me to be alone with Him. And you know what, I started crying matapos kong ilabas lahat sa kanya ang saloobin ko.

I felt His warm embrace. I felt His compassion and His mercy. He surely heard me. After that, even though my problems are not yet fixed, I had hope and I had better expectations. No more pressure, no more confusion. Alam ko na God will turn my situation around for the best.

He will surely hear you. For He is not alien to what you feel now. He knows how you feel for He, Himself, felt it.

Yet after He wept, His Father gave Him the grace to stand firm. And Jesus gave up His own will and surrendered it to His Father. “Father, your will be done.” He said. He chose a path and that path He chose saved all humanity.

Ikaw ba, are you willing to surrender your own plans to Him? Are you willing to say

“Father, your own will be done. I tried pursuing my own dreams and my own goals and yet pakiramdam ko I am not even an inch closer to it. Father kala ko studying abroad will give me an instant access to employment here. But I was wrong. Father, I surrender my will to yours. I am tired of pursuing my own goals, my own dreams. I just release all my plans to you Lord God. In Jesus’s Name. ”

It takes humility to do this. But when there’s humility, there’s grace. Jesus might respond to you saying

“What took you so long, my daughter? I am excited to tell you of the things I have in store for you – things to make you prosper, things to make you soar as high as an eagle. I was just waiting for you to come to Me and humble yourself before Me and acknowledge that you cannot live on your own. I only needed to hear these heartfelt words and I will work in you and build you up to be a strong woman I want you to be.

I love you so much, daughter. And I am with you wherever you go because we are one and we are connected with the red thread which is not fate but My blood which I shed to take you back for Myself. “

Open your heart to His voice and you will receive the grace to stand firm, unshaken and ready to face the world again!

Your brother in Christ,

Rye