My God is greater than all the difficulties and trials that I face!

Those Who Spend Time with Jesus Never turn their back at Him at the first sign of difficulty!

Just last Saturday I shared this insight to the girls for our Bible Study. We were talking about the characteristics of people who spent time with our Lord Jesus Christ. In relation to the topic, we looked at the life of Job. He was described in the Bible in Job chapter one as a man who was perfect and upright, one that feared God and eschewed evil. What a great description! To be known as a man who was perfect and upright in the eyes of our God is truly outstanding! His reputation exceeded his lifetime, he was included in the Bible and a whole book was written about his life! What a testimony! Such character could only be the result of intimate times spent with our Lord! As we go along, we also discussed how Job suffered trials and testings in his life; he lost his children, all his belongings, he even suffered tremendous physical pain! Yet we read in the Bible,In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly; futhermore, in Job 13:15 he said, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him; but will maintain mine own ways before Him!" What a very bold statement! Just imagine all he has been through and he was able to utter this words! As I personally study this statement, it lead me to believe that Job knew
God, and He knows Him very well! He has experienced the goodness, faithfulness and the power of God in his life in a very big way. I admired his faith, what great example He is!

We all know that after each lesson comes a test. Mine came today. The day started with my regular routine-quiet time with the Lord in the first waking hours of the day, brunch, house chores, surfing the net, studying for Values Ed lessons, and since we have mid-week service and I have a meeting set at 5PM at church with my fellow teachers for the Values Instruction Class, I left the house at around 4. I rode on the first jeepney going to Pasay through the service road. I prepared my fare so I won't have to bother opening my bag and paid it to the driver as soon as I settled down. There was a man sitting right in front of me who paid his fare as well. I was praying in my head as I normally do whenever I am in transit, I prayed for a safe trip and that I would make it to my meeting in time. My prayer was interrupted when just a few meters away three other passengers joined me inside the jeepney. They all paid their fares and settled
comfortably since there were only a few of us occupying the jeep.

I continued to pray making mention of the people I am meeting with and for our meeting to be fruitful. The guy in front of me said, "Para!" The jeep stopped,we all looked at him and thought he was going down when he declared a hold-up and pointed the knife he was carrying at me. At first, it didn't register in my head yet as my thoughts were in my prayer, but when he said "holdup to"and pointed his knife again, I reluctantly gave my bag. I took a good look at him, he was young, taller than me, had long hair up to his cheeks, wore a bandanna on his head, his shirt was either stained white or gray, and he was wearing shorts, he has light complexion. He took my bag and got off the jeep just when a delivery van was approaching. I screamed for my bag in increasing decibels and tone, "Bag ko!"

The approaching van hit the hold upper slightly that he fell to the ground and my bag got sort of stuck behind the front left wheel. By this time, I was screaming loudly. The driver of the van probably heard me, he went out and ran towards the hold upper. Two girls who were passing by turned to look at my direction, the jeepney driver did nothing, while a guard from the factory where the incident happened looked at the scene. In my head I was contemplating if i should go down and do something but fear
got a hold of me, knowing that he carries a knife held me to my seat. These happened simultaneously and very quickly. I screamed one more time. Just when the van driver was about to approach the hold upper he was able to stand up with my bag in tow. He scrambled towards the back of the van and jumped into a cavity in the pavement. The cavity apparently led to a creek under the streets which can
lead him to different places, who knows where.

In less than a minute all these transpired! The van driver tried to help me by going after the boy, but had to stop when the boy jumped in the creek already. The two girls who were passing by saw the whole incident too. The driver of the jeepney observed everything, same with the other passengers inside. I went out of the jeep already. The two girls approached me and said that they were able to recognize who the hold upper was,that he lived in the same area they do. The van driver told me to
go to the nearest police station, while the factory security guard approached us and gave us directions how to get there. I was shaking. The thought of being hold upped and pointed a knife on started to sink in my head. All I was able to do was to nod at what they were all saying. All that was running in my head that time was that I got hold upped and that my bag was gone and all my valuables in it.

The two girls continued to talk to me saying again that they recognize the hold upper; I asked them if they can come with me to the police station and they agreed. We started to walk towards the station and continued with the conversation. They told me that they recognized the jeepney driver too that he was from the same area and that he knows the hold upper also. As we were walking I continued to pray for God's guidance and leading, that He would show me what to do. I prayed that God would protect me and be with me through all that is happening. At the police station, I started to cry. I answered the policeman's questions between sobs and pauses. First business was to call my parents. My mom picked
up the phone first and as I was explaining to her what happened, she reminded me that God is greater than all the bad things happening to me at that moment. She told me to pray and to thank God He kept me safe. At that same moment, I remembered our lesson from the Bible study. Those who spent time with Jesus did not turn their back on Him at the first sight of difficulty and Job's statement popped into my head, "Though he slay me,yet I will trust Him!" Tears flowed. I cried to God and told Him to help me to continue to trust Him and have faith like Job. I thanked the God for reminding me of that lesson.

I went through the normal SOP. I and the two girls gave our statements. My parents came immediately to join me. Together with the police and with some barangay officials, we went to the area where the hold upper lived. The girls were able to identify the house of the boy, but as logic would dictate, the
hold upper was not there but both his parents were. They both agreed to cooperate with the authorities should their son turn up. The afternoon ended with a promise from the police that they will do their best to catch this boy and that they will also go after the jeepney driver who apparently is an accomplice to the crime. By the way, before separating ways with the two girls at the front of the police
station, we were able to see the jeep again passing the same route! The two girls identified the jeep and the driver once more.

On my way to church for the mid-week service I prayed inside our van. I thanked God for being with me through everything. I praised Him for He is God who is in control; I know that ALL the circumstance I
face are God-filtered always. I prayed for comfort and stability. I told God that I feared, I felt unsafe all of a sudden, that I cannot make sense of all that has happened. I thanked Him for bringing into my remembrance Job's words. I reflected on what has happened and I told God that I didn't suffered as Job did, and that by His grace I will not and dare not turn my back on Him during this trying times. I was once again reminded of Job's story. Because of Job's great faith, all that was taken from him was restored. "also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before." Job 42:10b. I rest on God's grace, I trust in His Word, I have faith in who God is! My God is greater than all the difficulties and trials that I face!