God's Grace to Grow in Stewardship

“Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not serving to the eye, as pleasing men, but in simplicity of heart, fearing God.  Whatsoever you do, do it from the heart, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that you shall receive of the Lord the reward of inheritance.  Serve ye the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:22-24, Douay Rheims)

It has been quite sometime since my last piece of journal on this blog.  Many events have happened since then...on my journey.  I still feel sad when I recollect the sudden departure of my good companion and friend...only two weeks ago...but just seem like yesterday.  Sad or not, life for me must still go on...

Coincidently, I have been back working in the corporate world...the very week after my best friend’s funeral.  I still remember my last conversation with him, just the week before...he advised me to give it a shot...get back to employment...as there are still so many lives I am capable of reaching out to and touching.  My friend, I have taken your last words into heart...we are indeed God's gift to the world...our lives are meant to be shared...our light...to brighten where it is dark...

But then, my dear companion never stayed long enough to hear the good news...that I have successfully got the job...on the very day after he passed on.  In fact, the phone call came when I was at the wake at his residence near the coastal waters off the Straits of Malacca...

Sometimes, the happenings in life are such a paradox...emotions of sadness and joy all mixed up...one just does not know what to feel anymore.  What I know is that my journey from this point onwards will miss the cherished companionship of a very dear friend.  Nevertheless, I thank God for bringing him into my life and will always hold his words in my heart...guess this must have been similar of how the twelve disciples must have felt when Jesus suddenly left them at Golgotha...

Me getting a new job and losing a dear friend...at the same moment?  Perhaps the Lord has a hidden message for me...somewhere under the blanket of these events in life.  Perhaps Jesus wants me to bring His Light back into the world...perhaps there are lives I must still reach out and touch...  Perhaps, I must walk the rest of this journey without my good friend...perhaps, my dear friend is called onto another journey somewhere else...perhaps there is more learning for me...perhaps I require more refining...

Whatever it is, I remain the humble instrument of the Lord...  Once we have experienced God’s merciful grace and forgiveness in our lives...surely we are obligated to share and pass this on joyfully and willingly to many others who have yet to experience the same...

For me, two weeks have passed into the corporate world...the landscape of my journey is beginning to change again...yet my mission remains the same...to do my small part, in partnership with God, in making this world a little better; with my strength anchored on God alone.

My time management has gone a bit wacko since then as I re-orientate myself and settle into this new position.  What I have realized these past 2 weeks is that I must be even more disciplined, spiritually, as I pursue my new journey; as a disciple of Christ...amidst the “noise” and “seduction” of this crazy world.

Trying to be simple amidst the “complexities” and “complications” of the competitive entrepreneur world is never easy.  To achieve this spiritual equilibrium, I have fallen back to rely on the basic foundation of prayer and the rosary...coupled with much scriptural and spiritual reading.  This has helped, to a certain extent, to sustain me and maintain a calm “center”...not forgetting the Holy Eucharist which I am so privilege to receive at each Friday noon mass, given that my new place of employment is within walking distance to a cathedral.  Thank God for that!

Don’t get me wrong but I am indeed pleased to be back to work again...I know that my past sabbatical year has helped formed me somehow, to face the competitive business world with much more composure, confidence, spiritual maturity and priority.

Indeed God continues to work in mysterious ways...He has a unique plan for all of us...if we but be obedient to His ways.  Although we are sinners, He loves each one of us all the same.  So, here I am, Lord...is it I, Lord?...I will go, Lord, if you need me!

I just pray that my humble listening to Him, discerning...and obedience in journeying this route through the waves of life...will bring only more glory to His Holy Name.  I pray that He will continue to guide me in all my decisions and actions.  May He increase as I decrease...

“You have seduced me, Yahweh, and I have let myself be seduced...” (Jeremiah 20:7, NJB)

Ultimately, I know that I am “employed” by God and He remains my first “boss”.  As a Catholic Christian, I also know that my work on earth is a spiritual stewardship; not a secular necessity.  What I contribute, in any small way, at my workplace must serve His purposes with the utmost integrity and fit into His entire plan for Creation and the Universe.  I, a mere servant, partner with God through my “sacred” worldly responsibilities to bring life to this “dying” world and humanity.  By the grace and mercy of God, I now have another opportunity to grow in my stewardship at work...placing all my trust in God alone.  Alleluia!

“Otherwise, you might say in your heart, “It is my own power and the strength of my own hand that has got me this wealth.”  Remember then the Lord, your God, for he is the one who gives you the power to get wealth, by fulfilling, as he has now done, the covenant he swore to your ancestors.  But if you do forget the Lord, your God, and go after other gods, serving and bowing down to them, I bear witness to you this day that you will perish utterly.” (Deuteronomy 8:17-19, NAB)