perfect starry nights. sweet dreams. moon beams. a love that's warm. and bright.

my family is celebrating christmas a little differently this year. first off, we ditched the yuletide decors except for our occasional holiday pillow covers. we did not put up lights in the garden or in the palawan cherry blossom tree or in the balcony. and we thought better than to hang our annual christmas angels on the third floor and the parol on the second.

it's not that we are being the neighborhood scrooges [although that would be a good identity, hmmm] this time of the year but we thought it a good idea to scrimp on the bling and splurge on giving instead. so all the moolah we save from decorations and electricity will be given to the church to expand the work of the Lord.

i think i speak on behalf of my family when i say that the true meaning of Christmas is not/should not be confined in just a day or a month-long celebration marked by lights and mistletoe and trees. the babe in the manger should be celebrated all year round and i suppose we have pretty much covered that essence. everyday is christmas because the baby that was born on christmas day still lives.

::::::: (",) :::::::

in the middle of emergency lights, sweltering heat and lack of technology, God spoke. you gotta be amazed at how He uses the most unlikely circumstances to drive a point.

Pastor Dave [SP: Senior Pastor cum Superb Photographer] did a wonderful job of exhorting on Habbakuk [a book/prophet in the old testament which i know as a joke, as in, anong libro ang bubuksan mo sa Bible pag nauuhaw?]. Habbakuk was very vocal about his "complaints" to what is happening to Israel while God seems to be mum about the whole thing. how bizarre for God to take so long to give a concrete answer to a dire need as if saying, "so?" And He goes on saying that He will raise the Babylonians up. Can you just imagine Habbakuk's exasperation, oh come on Lord, they are so bad, you should not tolerate them!

We can think of so many reasons why God should answer our prayers and get us out of trouble. I mean, isn't that what a good God should do? we can be adamant at God to take us out of a dangerous situation while "reminding" Him that, God, this is so not like you, when He seems to ignore our plea. And we are so sure that the way we imagine salvation to come is what He will do exactly.

God is good all the time. All the time, God is good. sometimes, we classify what is good. we understand things differently, make a mental note of what good should be, and expect God to be that. The thing is, God is sovereign. meaning He does what He pleases.

If we say we trust God, then we should know how to rest in Him when His answers take too long. He is up to something and He knows your end. Like what the message said, if we drown, fine, as long as we're in God's hands. Faith is the key to understanding God's goodness. We trust HIm even when He seems untrustworthy.

sometimes, God seems to "ignore" our prayers or is taking too long in giving answers and all we get from Him is wait. it's so unsettling, yes, but the righteous will live by his faith. [Habbakuk 2:4]

as with Habbakuk, the Lord seemed to delay an immediate, logical answer to his prayers. But He guaranteed that He will not let the Babylonians go unpunished. if you know your history, is there still a remnant of that once-powerful kingdom? exactly.

all hell may break loose, we can lose the things we hold dear, be betrayed by those whom we trust, and die of suffocation at a sunday service [hehe] but knowing that we have peace with a God who knows exactly what He is doing- always in His terms- means we can chill and trust that even if we suffer, we suffer in His hands. our idea of good does not exactly have to mean comfortable or safe or convenient. nobody said that living for Christ is a trouble-free existence. it just assures you that no matter what, He has your best interest- although not in the way you see it- at heart.

Our service ended the way it started, the place dark and hot, no electricity and no spectacular powerpoint presentation, but God is good. He delivered His message as clearly as He would in any air-conditioned, electrically supplied service.

as the ending to Pastor Dave's sermon, he quoted Lucy of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe [by CS Lewis], asking Mr. Beaver, "Then he [Aslan the lion] isn't safe?" [referring to the statement that everyone falls on his knees in fear when meeting Aslan] to which the kind beaver replied, "Safe? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good."

Is God really good? YES.