Riza Fortuna

I attended a retreat for leaders in my Christian community last weekend. It was a great time of facing my fears before the Lord as well as getting support from sisters and brothers who are fellow servants in community. What I would like to capture here is the key learning I got from the retreat: that a storm is different from a cross. Many times, we interchange a cross for a storm and a storm for a cross, but really one is different from the other.

A storm happens beyond our control. It comes and it goes; it is passing. Just like one of my favorite lines when facing a difficulty, when a storm comes we can certainly say "this too shall pass". A cross on the other hand is choice. We choose to pick it up and carry it. Sometimes it is a quick carrying of the cross, in some cases it may take a lifetime.

When facing a storm, we should keep two important lessons: (1) Believe that Jesus is with us. Don’t focus on the storm, look for Him. (2) Believe that He can change things. He is in control. However, do what is necessary that is within your means to survive the storm. As our retreat master Tito Ed Mendoza said "Sometimes, it is in the very act of wrestling with the storm that we find joy". In a storm, we should hang on to our core, our soul. It is important then that such core, the soul within us is nurtured to always be in God’s presence and anchored on Him so we are full of grace when a storm suddenly hits.

A cross signifies death. When we choose to pick up a cross, we choose for our ego to die. Anything that tames our ego, pride, sense of self-worth is a cross. We make room for the Holy Spirit by crucifying our ego on the cross.

I am currently facing a storm. It breaks my heart knowing that one of my closest friends, a most dear sister in community is suddenly battling cancer. I surrendered the situation before God and asked for more faith during the retreat. Up to today I continue to surrender. As I pray for my sister that God may have mercy on her and heal her completely, I continue to die to my weaknesses and imperfections. I am blessed to have the privilege to take up the cross of facing this situation with my dear sister and helping her in whatever way I can. As I pray for her, my own doubts and lack of faith are undergoing their series of deaths. I am blessed because I am dying to what is not of God and being purified to become worthy to carry such a cross. I pray that the storms that hit me and the crosses I choose to carry including this situation of my friend shall magnify and glorify Jesus who saved us by literally dying on the cross.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 17th, 2007 at 4:41 am and is filed under Spiritual. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.