REBOUND

REBOUND

 

PSALM 125:1-5

 

1 They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever.

2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even forever. 3 For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity. 4 Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts. 5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel.

 

                “O be careful little mouth what you say, for the Father up above is looking down with love, O be careful little mouth what you say.”  It could be sung like a lullaby by a loving mom to make her sweet-lovely baby fall asleep inside the cradle, but if the command of its content is taken for granted, the result could be a horrifying-nightmare consequence.

                No father who is in his right mind will allow anyone or anything to cause any harm to his children, whether it’s physical or emotional. His children are his greatest treasure, thus, he’s willing to give his life in order to protect them ‘til the very last breath of his life.

               “Do you think only you need to be fed? Stop coming here, we have nothing to give!” This was the hurtful statement of my aunt to my brother when my parents told him to go and ask them to pay the debt they owed because we're already empty and has nothing to cook at that time. What’s worst, she also wished for the worms to eat up all our newly planted seeds in our farm. When my parents heard it, both of them cried. At first my father really wanted to attack his brother, and he really went to see him, but the result turned out to be so ridiculous because he was drunk when he talked to him and said, “Mano, from now on Mano, I will not call you Mano, Mano!” (Mano is an endearment to an older brother.) People around them were just laughing at my father, even my uncle, that’s the only thing he repeatedly uttered.  Because they knew he was drunk, they brought him home. When the power of the alcohol subsided, he didn’t go back to his brother again, and surprisingly, told my mom that they will just leave it all to God. Though my parents had all the reasons to explode and they could have sued them for not paying their debt, they chose to keep silent with them, but not before God. To make you understand better, please allow me to narrate with you what happened. My father and his brother applied for a farm-loan, but my father received the money first, my uncle came to him and pleaded to him to let him use the money first since we have not started planting yet. He promised to pay when he receives his. My parents waited and waited, but only to find out that they already received theirs without telling my parents, they just heard it from the neighbours; they chose not to pay, instead made another promise to pay after harvest; but after they harvested, still nothing happened. So all the income we have from the Sari-Sari store was used to finance for the farm, and because we have no other source of income, it got bankrupt.  That’s the reason why my parents were forced to send my brother to them that day.

                Now here’s the rebound of the story. Late at night we heard the hard knocks on the door, as we opened the door, the scared face of a person appeared to inform us that the family of my uncle was attacked by someone, and every one of them was brought to the hospital. My uncle and his son were stabbed with a knife on their legs and arms, while my aunt and the younger son were punched on their faces, which broke some of the teeth of my aunt. When my mother heard about it, she felt cold and the hairs of her skin stood up; she got so scared, for she knew how hard she cried to God, but it wasn’t her prayer to be answered that way. She then rushed to the hospital to take care of them. She also volunteered to take care of their carinderia ( a food stall with a small seating area, typically in a market or at a roadside) while they’re still in the hospital to meet their daily needs. Ridiculously, after all they went through my aunt accused her for stealing the money from the carinderia.  That’s why she stopped and decided to close the carinderia. But their eldest son, stayed in our house until he recovered, for he was afraid that he might be attacked again. He knew what his mom did, so he apologized for his mom’s attitude. Actually, all of my uncle’s children were good. There’s no problem with them, even with my uncle, but I don’t know what happened with my aunt. Finally they went out from the hospital, but all the money they got from the harvest was used for the hospital bills. They sued the attacker to court, they spent so much money for the case for years, but it wasn’t solved until the diabetes of my uncle took his life, and the hearing was stopped. The children gave up the case, and chose to move on with their own lives. By God’s grace, each one of them is enjoying life with their own family now. My aunt also died with diabetes, but before she died, my mom was able to take care of her for a short period of time and shared the Word of God to her while she was still fighting with her illness. She prayed the sinner’s prayer: whether she’s sincere or not? It’s between her and God.

                You see? Whatever things we say to other people, whether we mean it or not, we must be extra careful with our words. God is listening, and He will not allow anyone to despise His children. He is the defender and the protector to everyone.

Every decision we make affects the lives of the people around us. So let’s think before we speak, and let’s look before we leap! Though facing some difficult people in our lives is so tempting and provoking, but instead of retaliating, we have to pray to God to give us the strength and the courage to understand and to be more patient with them. Let’s not allow their insults and their attitudes to steal our identity in Christ. We are called to love no matter what. We need to be reminded, that sometimes, the LORD will intentionally bring them to us, so that we could also see the real us, and we could experience how powerful His grace is in our lives. To love the unlovable is our main calling, when we find it hard to do, we should remember how unlovable we are, yet, the LORD chose to embrace us with His loving kindness and forgiveness. It takes courage to love, and it takes genuine faith in God to live out His expectations in us. That’s why we need to claim His grace from day to day, for without Him, we can do nothing!