Story About TEEN ♥

I always love how great pastors preach about the common verses actually, but they open and give a new insight of that verses, and in this time, Pdt Chris Manusama gave a new revelation about the verses we have heard often, kisah Israel menyeberang laut Merah.

Di kitab Keluaran 14:15-31, kita memasuki masa dimana orang Israel zaman itu ngadepin 'jalan buntu', depan lautan, belakang tentara Firaun, they think they have no way to run, tapi apa yang Tuhan lakukan? Dia suruh Musa angkat tongkatnya dan laut terbelah! Orang Israel ini melangkah nyebrangin lautan, and guess what, di belakang mereka, tentara Firaun juga ngikut! Lewatin jalan yang sama, bahkan juga udah nyusul sampai ke tengah-tengah (Ayat 23).

Kebayang gak sih, waktu itu orang Israel mungkin aja ada yang mikir, 'Tuhan! koq ini Engkau biarin tentara Firaun ikutan lewat jalan ini?' atau ada yang bilang 'Tuhan, ini Engkau yang kasih jalan lewat sini, tapi koq musuh kita juga bisa jalan lewat sini?' mungkin gak ada yang bilang kayak gitu? But then look at ayat 18, Tuhan bilang itu memang sengaja Dia lakukan untuk menyatakan kemulianNya. Tuhan ingin orang Mesir dan tentara Firaun melihat dari DEKAT bagaimana Tuhan menolong bangsaNya.

Same as nowadays, mungkin ada dari kita yang berasa, 'Tuhan loh yang suruh ke sini, Tuhan yang suruh kerja di perusahaan ini, Tuhan yang suruh masuk ke universitas ini, Tuhan yang suruh masuk ke komunitas ini, Tuhan yang suruh aku begini, Tuhan yang suruh aku begitu, tapi koq, banyak banget rintangannya? tapi koq banyak banget cobaannya?'

The same God who showed to the Pharaoh and his servants how amazingly He protected His children, He also wants to show to you, and your enemy how amazingly He protects you! Tentara Firaun sengaja dibawa sampai dekat orang Israel di tengah lautan yang Tuhan bukakan khusus untuk Israel, supaya mereka melihat dengan jelas penyertaan Tuhan, dan setelah itu dalam sekejap, BUZZ! mereka dimusnahkan. 

Ketika kita sekarang diperhadapkan dengan 'musuh' kita di jalan yang Tuhan bukakan, relax, and know He is GOD. Dalam sekejap, buzzz, dengan mudahnya musuh-musuh kita dilenyapkan, Tuhan cuma mau kasih unjuk ke kita dan 'musuh' kita, betapa sempurnanya penyertaan Tuhan, all we need to do is, percaya aja :)

This happened last week, pas doa pengerja SICC, ketika waktunya persembahan, gwe baru inget, duit yang di dompet tinggal 2 lembar, nominal yang besar, dan kecil banget. Sesaat gwe ragu mau kasih persembahan apa enggak, secara kalau kasih nominal satunya, pulang doa pengerja gwe gak bisa makan sampe ketemu ATM yang pastinya gak ada atm di SICC. Tapi kalau kasih yang nominal kecil banget, ya kali kasih Tuhan apa kasih tukang parkir kan? Ya akhirnya, better gak ngasih deh pikir gwe.

Tapi di menit-menit terakhir, kayak ada sentilan 'buat Tuhan aja pelit ya hayooo..' dan akhirnya gwe keluarin yang nominal satunya dan masukin ke ke kotak persembahan. 

Terus pas pulang, gwe gak naik bus (biasanya naik bus bareng-bareng pengerja lain), gwe bareng beberapa temen kita ke rumah makan dulu (dengan modal minjem uang mikirnya secara gak ada duit dan gak ada atm). Udah pesen ini itu, dan tempat duduk penuh. Jengjeng. Akhirnya kita satu meja sama om-om yang lagi makan sendirian. Om-om itu sendirian, tapi pake meja yang buat rame-rame, yaudah dengan muka tembok kita duduk di sebelahnya. 

Omnya asli serem. Matanya merah banget, berair, mukanya merah, makannya bubur doank. Gwe ampe bisik ke temen gwe kalau ini om-om serem abis kayak abis mabuk apa berantem sih, terus yaudah kita makan. Trus temen gwe ini nawarin peyek ke si om-om ini, dan si om nolak, yaudah kita lanjut makan lagi.

Dan lucu plus aneh plus ajaibnya, si om undur diri mau pulang terus beberapa detik kemudian kita mulai doa makan, baru ngomong 'Tuhan Yesus, terimakasih blablabla' belom selesai doa, mbak-mbak pelayan dateng ke meja kita dan bilang kalau makanan kita semuanya udah dibayar sama si om. Temen gwe dari merem sampe melek lagi.. (gwe belom sempet tutup mata :p) terus kita cuma bisa terkaget-kaget.

Siang itu, i learnt some things. Don't ever judge people from appearance, basi? tapi ternyata memang benar. And a simply smile ditambah tawarin sesuatu ternyata berdampak besar, padahal itu cuma basa basi donk, but we never know if it touched his heart. hahaha, dan the main point, God is the God who provides! :D Disaat dompet gak ada duit lagi (yaa even di atm ada sih, tapi atmnya yang ga ada), eh ada om-om yang digerakin Tuhan bayarin makanan. :D wohoo!

He amazes me again! As simple as that. 

"Be not afraid, but know I will take you from glory to glory. I would only bid you to agree and allow Me to take you. Not forcefully, but with gentleness, with kindness, and with authority, for in the eye of a storm I can still speak peace, and My peace I give to you. And My peace you will recognize – in the guidance I speak in you, and over you, for I will not drive you, but I delight in guiding you. Be still. Know that I am God, and that with Me all things are possible.

taken from here.

Selama ini, we have heard people say, love like Jesus loves. But actually, have you ever wondered and imagined or even experienced how hard it is?

This thing or let say, insight came suddenly dan sejenak cukup bikin gwe simply think about it.

Beberapa hari ini gwe belajar ini. And this thing happened to some people even my close ones. Dan ketika kita mendengar kabar gak enak tentang mereka, kalau ternyata mereka begini dan begitu yang gak baik, those times are the times when we need to learn, to love people like Jesus loves.

Love like Jesus means...

When you have heard bad issues about someone, you can still love them objectively.

When you know their weaknesses, you can still love them sincerely.

When you've been hurt by them, you can still love them without any 'what if now i'm hurt again?'

When you know their past, you can still love and respect them.

Seperti ketika Yesus dulu suruh Zakheus turun dari atas pohon dan bilang kalau Dia mau numpang makan dirumah Zakheus, bukan berarti Tuhan gak tau Zakheus itu siapa, even orang-orang sekitar tau Zakheus orang berdosa, tapi Tuhan melihatnya dengan sudut pandang netral dan bahkan dengan kasih, even when He knows segala keburukannya Zakheus.

And yes, so now i'm learning, to love like Jesus. And yep, i'm gonna fail million times, but it's okay, at least i'm trying, and He sees my heart. He sees your heart too :)

Manusia selama hidupnya selalu diperhadapkan dengan situasi (yang pada masanya) sulit, dan ujung-ujungnya harus memilih mana yang the best for them at that time. 

Setelah masa-masa memilih judul skripsi yang sesuai, masa-masa proses pembuatan skripsi yang aduhai, sampai sidang dan lulus, sekarang next stepnya... cari kerja. Another hard times for me. Honestly, gwe bahkan seperti kehilangan passion gwe yang dulunya pengen kerja di majalah jadi writer, sekarang seperti menguap dan bingung sebenernya gwe mau apa. Writer oke, tapi pengen nyoba yang lain juga. pft.

Dulu pas masih SMA, bingung milih ipa atau ips, beranjak gedean dikit, bingung milih kampus mana, jurusan apa, gedean lagi kayak sekarang, bingung mau apply kerja dimana, bingung mau ambil bidang apa. Nanti nextnya lagi bingung siapa pasangan hidupnya (asdfghjk :p). Selalu akan seperti itu, diperhadapkan dengan persimpangan yang lebih sulit. 

And you know what, for the million times, hari ini Tuhan buktiin kalau He hears me, He sees me, He knows my worry. Pas ibadah tadi, pendetanya bukain ayat ini.. *JENGJENG!

Setelah dikasih ayat itu yaaa bukan berarti tiba-tiba gwe tau gwe harus apply kemana, tiba-tiba dapet passion gwe dimana, tiba-tiba everything diungkapkan, yaaa ga gitu juga. :| Bingung masih, agak pusing-pusing dikit juga masih. Tapi berbeda sedikit kali ini, because i know He always takes care of me, dan yang terpenting, He says, FEAR NOT! Because He stands beside me, dan bahkan ujung-ujungnya i know, akan membawa kemenangan :") 

Nothing to be too worried about.

*ps: kali-kali yang baca ini punya kenalan di majalah lifestyle yang butuh writer, designer (maybe) atau sejenisnya yang butuh fresh graduate dari mass comm, bole loh kabar-kabarin #teteppromosi :p 

Imagine a shepherd boy minding his own business, doing what his father has asked him to do just like he had done yesterday and the day before. Today, however, his faith will be tested. A lion would come that day and take one the David’s sheep.

David was just a boy. How could he defend himself against a wild animal? He could have sat down in the middle of the field and given up. He could have cried out to God, “Why did you let this happen to me? You have given me more than I can handle. I thought you were supposed to bless me for all the things I have done right!” But David did not.

With confidence in God’s strength and assurance that he was not alone, David ran after that lion, killed him, and took back the sheep. Then, David went back to tending the sheep just as his father asked.

A few weeks passed, everything was going smoothly when out of no where a bear came along to take a sheep. David again could have gone home and left the sheep to cry in his bed, “God, how many times is this going to happen to me? You are NOT taking care of me like you said you would! When will I get my blessing??” But David did not. Again, he rose up and, remembering how God had helped him overcome the lion, David defeated the bear and saved the sheep once more.

David could not see the future. He did not know what was awaiting him. He did not know the enemy of the Lord would soon call his name and it would go down as one of the most famous upsets in history.

David and Goliath. How could he have known that the whole time he was being tested and God was preparing his heart for what was to come? He didn’t know. He simply trusted, and when Goliath called his name, he had the courage and faith to say,

Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.

And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee. 1 Samuel 17: 34-37

David knew at that moment that everything that God had brought to him, and brought him through was preparation for possibly one of the greatest moments in his life for the glory of God. With each testing of his faith, God was preparing David to reach his full potential. With each trial, David’s faith was made stronger. God alone knew what David could handle in each situation, and David trusted his love and wisdom. 

Trials come to all of us. Sometimes right in the middle of doing exactly what God has called us to, God will throw us a curve ball. None of us are strangers to the lions and bears of troubles and trials in this life. When these trials arise, we can sit with our head in our hands and ask God “WHY?” …. or we can trust God’s hand working in our lives.

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. James 1:2-4

God is preparing you for something in the midst of a trial. He wants you to reach your full potential, and he does that through the testing of your faith. Just as exercise tears down muscle to build it back up stronger, God uses our hard life situations to tear down our pride, and self sufficiency, and to build our faith in HIM. When we are patient and trust His hand even when we can not see, we can be made little by little into what he has truly created us to be. 

We can always trust Him to bring us through every trial and every testing that comes our way, and believe me, they will come.

Looking back one day, you will be able to say, as David said, “God has never failed me before when I have trusted in Him…. and He will not fail me now.”

i copied this article from here, and i think it's worth to share..

Kalau kita renungin lagi, tahun-tahun ke belakang, masalah-masalah yang pernah kita alamin sebelumnya, momen-momen 'berdarah' yang pernah kita lalui. I just want to say, all things work together for my good. Ketika kita liat lagi ke belakang, semua kejadian itu berguna untuk masa kini, dan pasti berguna untuk masa depan kita. The thing is, ketika sekarang kita dihadapkan dengan masalah-masalah yang baru, we have to trust HIM. Percaya kalau nantinya ketika kita lulus ujian ini, akan berguna untuk next step in our lives. Ada amen? :))