The Secret Ingredient

I must confess that I am slow writer  :-) . And you know what!!!  I recently found out the secret ingredient (stealing it from my fav movie kungfu panda) to live happy life. 

I guess few weeks ago, probably last month, I happened to meet my parish priest; a wise old man in his 70’s. we were talking about the climate of Bangalore and I was telling about the drastic changes happening to the weather. He then mentioned that he is to travel to his hometown, Kerala for HIS Dad’s Death anniversary. His dad had died at the age of 105. Great, right! When he had turned 103, the whole family, and his friends celebrated his birthday with a beautiful mass and big fat lunch spread. Everyone on that day had just one question in their mind. What was his secret of living so long? He simply answered with a smile, that he never worried for anything in his life. He had great faith in Jesus and that in any situation Jesus would there for his support. Even the moment when he had difficult situations he never worried. He happily accepted those difficult moments and he was able to endure it with the power of Christ. Truly a beautiful testimony. It did make an impact on me.

Throughout the day I was thinking about this and looking at how I react when I go through trials, when I feel low, when I am humiliated. First question which comes to my mind then is why did God allowed this, why am I going through struggles. One thing which I understood from the life of the priest’s father is that he accepted Jesus and he surrendered his life to Jesus. Even Jesus’s life wasn't full of fun and joy but he went through rejection, humiliation, accusation, whatnot. We all know how he died. When I say I have accepted Jesus, I wondered at how I reacted through my times of pain, humiliation, and suffering? Kept questioning him on why did he allowed this and where did he go without helping me out. Christianity itself is a calling for a sacrifice, dying to self, loving unconditionally. Jesus says that want to follow me, take up your cross and follow. We say, ‘Yes! Yes! Lord’ and the moment we get a cross we start grumbling,  because all we want is blessings from Jesus but we run away from cross. It’s like you want the treasure but you will not dig the ground to take the treasure out.

In my previous blog- I am true vine, I have mentioned that suffering is part of Christian life though technically its pruning. You have to be pruned to give more fruit. I am reminded some of favorite passages Jeremiah 17: 7-8 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Very strong and clear, we should be like a tree rooted in Jesus. True faith is that we bear fruit in any season. Even in the season of suffering and pain. Another scripture which I remember very often is Sirach 39 : 17-18,33-34 “ For now, we must not question what God has done, but he has set a time to explain everything. All the works of the Lord are good, and he will supply every need in its time. No one can say, “This is not as good as that.” for everything proves good in its appointed time.

Commanding words; if God allows something bad, it is for our good. We can’t question it or compare it. I left college with 7 arrears. I was scared and worried. Questions like will I complete my degree or not would cloud my mind. After trying hard for 2 years to clear them after with a lot of questioning- why God didn't help me; I had no other go other than to surrender my life to Jesus. I told him- Lord, this time am not going rely on my intellect or books but you. I prepared well and then a miracle happened. I passed all my papers.

That is when I understood the true surrender in Christ. Later I met lot of my friends and brothers who were going through similar situations; and I understood why Jesus allowed this struggle in my life. If I hadn't gone through the struggles I would not have understood my brother’s pain or situation. I guess I am not leading the topic elsewhere.

Finally, to live a happy life, you must hold on to Jesus even at the time of trials and humiliation. Our calling as Christians is to follow Christ and not the worries. If something is troubling you, surrender to Jesus and stay calm. You will see the miracle happening. This is called staying cool with Jesus (our best friend). 

kyaaaaaaah... kyaaaaah .... Master Jesus.