Sink into God's arms... Relax.

Monday, November 19, 2007

:: Others ::

Distractions and more distractions. exam time. everyone's mugging and here i am blogging. haha...too many random thoughts in my mind i guess...decided to blog them all out! =)

You know how it is when exams come, different people have different expectations of themselves and their grades. how dangerous it is, however, when our expectations of ourselves are so often subtly shaped by others' expectations of ourselves. satan's way of making us feel like failures, is to use the world's pressure and expectations of us to force us to conform. the Lord promises otherwise. the Lord calls us to take on His yoke, and comforts us that there is no condemnation in Christ! how awesome are the Lord's promises which He never fails to keep!

How silly we are to keep comparing ourselves with others of this world when our treasures are of another world, a more beautiful and eternal one! i remember during cg a few thursday back, a cg mate shared with the group about how she would start off the day centred with Christ, assured by His promises, but at the end of a normal school day in NUS, she'd be jaded by the world's opinions and 'feel fat'. how impossible it is for us by our own strength to live the abundant life! YET the Lord is faithful and once again, we are called to surrender our all to Him.

Today, i realised my approach to encouraging people hasn't been all that perfect. i also realised that the style i need to learn to encourage with is what most people need. and that includes myself.

Encouragement isn't solving or trying to find solutions to a person's problems. neither is it bugging a person non-stop with 'advice' that the person most probably knows anyway. it isn't talking non-stop beside a person when he or she is troubled. it isn't just about spitting out Bible verses that just seem encouraging to you. it definitely isn't using reverse psychology to try to motivate the person, because more often then not, you are more likely to discourage the person (unless the person is like super duper strong-willed and bochap you). most importantly, it is not acting like you know better.

On the contrary, encouragement is listening. being quiet. it is letting the person air all his feelings and emotions instead of saying "you should or should not______". it is praying for the person and believing that God will take the best care of him or her. it is loving the person for who he or she is, before judging the action. it is telling the person "results don't matter. it isn't the endpoint, but the process of learning that matters". it is affirming the person that we all make mistakes, but there is no more condemnation in Christ Jesus (for non-believers, we can still affirm them of their qualities and abilities).

Last random (or not so random) thought... stress is positive, but not when it turns into anxiousness, worry, or even depression. thank God. i think im learning more and more, how to experience positive stress this sem. for a moment, i was letting others' expectations (or what i thought them to be) affect me, letting it get me all unhappy, unsatisfied with what the Lord gave me and so distracted that i can't even get down to studying productively.

Rambled on enough, and i know what i have to do. i just love rambling here :) it makes me feel great, determined and sure of God's promise. he will never give me second best.

Do me a favour? this time after reading my blog post, try being silent. there's no need to comment. your listening ear (or reading eye for that matter) was more than enough :) of course remember me in prayer too! that is the greatest encouragement that i need for now.

Off to studying now! :)

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7:55 PM
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