blogging woes and whining...

i was just reading a friend's friend's girlfriend's blog. (check out that friendster link!) and i noticed she said she hopes to attain 5000 readers in the future.

future xiaxue to be? hmm.. shall not judge. =)

much as i hope to have this blog packed with comments, i shall not be overly ambitious. knowing the nature of my blog. let's set the aim for... 10 readers first!

"oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory" (1 Chronicles 4:10)

frivolous things aside, let's talk about praise.

the past few weeks were worry laden weeks for me. personal as well as minor financial problems plagued me to no end and i could almost never focus on worship and my private devotionals. i used to whine about it - "God, why is this happening to me??? is not my life hard enough?"

everyone has been through this. if our God is so good, why is He allowing bad things to happen to His children? why do we continue praising a God who does not seem to care about His people?

you know what, it is precisely because He is good that He allows some boulders to be put into our paths. for that, "we rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." (Romans 5:3-4)

like a butterfly struggling to emerge from its cocoon, the man who took pity on the butterfly and cut open its cocoon ruined it as it now does not have the strength to fly. likewise, God understands that we need these sufferings to grow stronger and mature. this is what life is about.

if our life were really a bed of (thornless) roses, we would never experience God's goodness as we do not know the meaning of evil. we would forever be cocooned in our comfortable silk wrap, weak but overprotected, blissfully unaware of the big bad world we live in.

my friend was once posted this question: "would you still love God if He does something bad towards you?"

my answer will be an immediate yes.

i sense raised eyebrows. i sense people would think i'm being really silly.

in the light of how suffering eventually produces hope, i'll say yes, i'll love Him all the more when He places boulders in my path. because i know He has plans for me and it will be good (refer Luke 11:10-13). when i face difficulties, i know He will be there to help me (refer 1 Corinthians 10:13)

in adversity, i shall praise Him for giving me the opportunity to grow. in good times, i shall praise Him for His greatness and His love.

let everything that has breath praise the Lord forever!