Hope, Faith & Love

LOSING MY RELIGION John 14:6: "I am the  way , and the truth, and the  life ; no one comes to the Father except through me." Listening to an old song from REM of the same title, it had me reflecting about my faith and life with Jesus. Recent times have been some of the toughest and most confusing times of my life – my foundation, things I thought I knew, relationships and faith were shaken and challenged time after time.  My thoughts of situation (real or perceived), circumstances and other things had me struggling to grasp onto anything to keep myself from sinking. I struggled to find the voice to worship, praise or prayer. I was even struggling to find my own identity, what I like and dislike; trying to make sense of it all. Nothing really made sense. The Bible verses I had learnt, thought I understood didn't feel the same; it is funny how things seems to be different when you are looking in from the outside in comparison to being in the middle. Things

Bless the  Lord , O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: (Psalms 103:2) The goodness and timing of God still amazes me after all these years. The trip came during one of those times in life where nothing seems to line up; stress and discontentment personally and work, things have been so busy and things were a bit chaotic. Therefore, I was not ready for this trip. I have barely planned, have not really thought about accommodation until the last minute and didn’t have time to look forward to the trip itself but God is good. I had the opportunity to attended two wedding receptions – it is amazing to see and hear how both couples’ stories and the love they have for each other. Having known both couples over the years; seen the struggles, highs and lows in their lives, God has been faithful as they continue to abide in Him. It was also wonderful to see a friend get water baptized and hear of her journey with Jesus. How excited she was as she steps through an

23  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope  we profess,  for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 11:23) God is an amazing with his relentless pursue of us, how His love for us never tires. This thought had me reflecting on my response to His pursue of me. Don't get me wrong, I am always amaze and thankful for His constant and consistent love for me but if I don't response, it is a warm and fuzzy feeling. Recently on my tip to Krabi, Thailand, want of the things I wanted to do was to hike Tab Kak Hang Nak trail / Khao Ngon Nak in Tubkaek National Park. It didn't seem too bad, about 4km and 565 metres about sea level. But I was wrong, the humidity, heat, terrain and topping it off, I was unwell - made this hike much harder. There were so many times on the trail, I thought to myself; "Why am I doing this?", "This is too hard...", "I can't go on.." Feeling almost spent but somehow I found the energy and will to push on to the