December 23, 2023

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit Him.” Psalm 8:3,4.

For long distance flights I prefer sitting on the aisle side but on shorter flights, I enjoy sitting by the window to look outside. I keep looking out as the plane takes off into the air. I notice how the buildings and the cars become smaller and smaller. They become small like miniatures, and then small like the ants. It makes you think how small the world is.

But for the astronauts they go further out until they get to see the beautiful blue marble, the earth. As for many astronauts, once they experience the space and see the beautiful blue planet they have a paradigm shift of how they view the world. They call it the ‘overview effect.’ According to Wikipedia, this effect: refers to the experience of seeing firsthand the reality of the Earth in space, which is immediately understood to be a tiny, fragile ball of life, "hanging in the void", shielded and nourished by a paper-thin atmosphere. From space, national boundaries vanish, the conflicts that divide people become less important, and the need to create a planetary society with the united will to protect this "pale blue dot" becomes both obvious and imperative. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_effect

The problems and the strife that we see around us are just a mere speck when you compare to the vast space. We are nothing but dust. Yet our mighty God who has created us is mindful of us. That is how much He cares for us. He loves us so much. Shouldn’t we, then, stop with the problems around us and focus ourselves to God?

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December 16, 2023

“Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.” 

1 Samuel 13:10

When Sebin was a baby, she would get up and come down looking for something to eat. Hyemi would be making breakfast for the family. We are all hungry. While Hyemi is fixing food, Sebin can’t wait anymore. She would run to Mom and say, “I want to drink soy milk! Give me some!”

Now Hyemi knows that is not a good idea because if Sebin drinks a cup of soymilk, Sebin will feel full. Sebin won’t be able to enjoy as much the good food prepared by Mom. Sebin will only eat a little bit and there will be leftovers. Hyemi says, “No. I am making a good and tasty breakfast. Please wait until you eat this breakfast and then I will give you a cup of soymilk.” Sometimes Sebin would listen, but other times she would insist. She would keep on asking for it. Sebin would lose patience and she says, “It’s ok! I will drink first!” Sebin is hungry and she can’t wait. She is willing to give up what is much better to come by choosing what is available now. If Sebin learns to be patient, then she will get to enjoy what is better. 

It seems something similar happened to Saul. They were surrounded by the Philistine army. They are outnumbered. In the meantime, they were waiting for Samuel the Prophet. They waited for Samuel to arrive for seven days. Saul lost patience. Then he offered the burnt offering himself. Right after that, Samuel arrived. As a result, Samuel tells the king that his kingdom will not continue because “you (Saul) have not kept what the Lord commanded.”

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December 9, 2023

“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than we first believed.” Romans 13:11

The country of Iceland was a huge sensation in the Euro 2016. This was the European version of the World Cup. 

Iceland has only a population of 330,000 people. That’s the size of a small city in a big country. The country is cold, and the grass wouldn’t grow well on soccer fields. They only have 100 professional soccer players. They had never passed the qualifying stage in the past. But you know what happened that year? This small country managed to join the Euro 2016 by winning in the qualifying stage. Also, they won games in the group stage, advancing to the round of 16. From there, they beat England (one of the best teams in the world) and then advanced to the quarterfinals. Their journey ended, thereby losing to France. They called it a miracle.

How did this happen? One commentator said that Iceland started preparing 15 years ago. They started investing in their infrastructure, investing in leaders and players, and building indoor soccer arenas so that they could practice. Of course, this infrastructure was still small compared to bigger countries with strong teams. Yet Iceland was determined. They were determined to win and advance. Hence the whole world had witnessed this miracle.

This shows certain spiritual implications for us. We must be prepared. Our growth cannot happen all of a sudden. It takes time and commitment. But we must be prepared for that moment. We must be determined. We call it faith. Unlike Iceland, Jesus has done all the important work. We have to have faith in Jesus that we can win. 

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