Be a Good Soldier

"You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs-he wants to please his commanding officer." 2 Timothy 2:1-4

A lot of ups and downs has happened during this first week of classes. Underestimated the amount of business I need to take care of, I must admit that I feel a bit overwhelmed. However, I have been constantly reminded by the Holy Spirit that I am 1) a student and 2) an RA; and for this semester, I am responsible for 1) leading a GIG targeting on Chinese students and 2) organizing International Month. These are arranged in the order of importance.

There were some small incidents throughout the week. For example, on Wednesday night, I felt so deep in desperation that I needed a companion to walk with me along this path. The next day, when I shared this thought with one of my best friends here, she responded that she has been wanting to tell me that she wants to take a bigger role in International Month and that she wants to walk with me. God answers prayers. Another incident is that, when I was praying for GIG, I was deeply touched by this song, 我高舉雙手.

我攤開我的雙手 想要給你什麼 卻一無所有
我獻上我的身體 想要報答你什麼 可是卻虧欠你那麼多
主你卻用你溫柔雙手 抬起我的頭 輕輕對我說 你恩典夠我用
我高舉雙手 觸摸你的手 倒空生命 只願愛你更多
我高舉雙手 願觸摸你的手 定睛仰望十架 成我力量

What can we give to Jesus when we do not have anything?
What can we sacrifice to Jesus when we owe Him so much?
However, He does not care how inadequate we are. All He wants is that we make THE choice and walk with Him in our life. All He wants is that we put aside our personal needs and regard following Him as the most important thing in life. Throughout this week, God has been reminding me to be a good soldier in Him, have a pure heart, and live a transparent life in front of others.

Throughout the week, I have been wondering... what can I do for all the people around me who I come into contact with every day? There are so many of them; there are so many people who I know and would say hi to but would never exchange more than 2 sentences. What can I do? Is it worth it to have those people as 'friends' on Facebook? What does it mean when we know like 2,000 people in our life but we never really interact them? The answer is that... I do not know. But I believe, God put us here for a reason. And that He has planned out the best for us.

Add oil, let us all stand up and fight for the Kingdom of God!