Be Encouraged - By Merry Wirawan

“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,”  he said.   And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.   They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. – Matthew 14:17-20 (NLT) Have you ever been in the parking lot when there are plenty of parking spaces to choose from? One morning I went to the mall straight after sending my son to school. Because it was still too early, though there were many cars already but still plenty of space left in the parking lot. Being given a lot of options made me confused to choose for ‘the best spot’ because I was given options not to be close or near the P plater car, or not to be next to a big van or ute, and which space w...

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10 NLT Throughout my journey with Christ, I have received many words from Him directly or indirectly. Sometimes when He told us about something, it is not necessarily will happen the next day or in the near future. Rather, He wants us to hold on to His word and keep believing that it will come to pass one day in His time. Sometimes it depends on us, and how ready we are to receive His spoken word or His promise. If we know His will but we don’t want to do it or do not want to receive it, we will miss the blessing He has prepared for us. So it is up to us if we really want to honor His spoken word. We only can enjoy His blessing when we are fearfully expecting Him and His word to be done unto us. Sometimes at the end of 2018, God spoke to me that I should pray for the sick. He even gave me a vision about an elderly woman lying on the bed sick and...

Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! - Romans 11:33 We all know that His choice is always better than ours. But sometimes our ‘clever’ mind thinks our choice is good for us because we thought we know what we need, what we want, and what can satisfy us. Let me share my recent story which may speak to your spirit and help you to see that God is still in control of your life and love you passionately. In 2022 I have worked as a canteen assistant at a local school. It was my first job since the death of my brother in 2020. As many of you know, after my brother’s passing, I got a few health problems that prevented me from coming back to work, i.e. eye problems, GERD, surgery, and back pain. These problems made me reluctant to come back to work, especially with my eye problem in my right eye and back pain. So I started to work again in early 2022 with short hours first to see how I coped. Wor...

  “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the  Lord . “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. Isaiah 55:7-9 NLT We have many desires in our lives and sometimes we really want to pursue them badly. It becomes tricky when we are so focused on getting them that we put our desire above His will in our lives. I believe we all are guilty in this area throughout our journey with God. We cannot wait until His timing, or we cannot accept a ‘no’ answer from God. We want that thing and only that thing and we demand God to give it to us. That’s why the above verse comes in handy for us Christians as a reminder that He is God who directs us and not us directing Him to go where we want to go. I want to share our recent journey with God about my daughter, Faith this year. End of 2021, she told me that she wanted to move school for high school (year 7). At that time she was in year 5. The current school was very small, and she wanted to go to a much larger scho...

  He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.    ~ Psalm 145:19 NIV ~ October is the birthday month of my children. Their birthdays are four days apart. Every year we normally just celebrate their birthday with families only. However, this year I thought I wanted to celebrate their birthdays with their friends because it has been a while since they had a proper party with their friends. One night when I was planning the party, suddenly I remembered that I had to prepare goodie bags for their friends at the party. I completely forgot that the kids will want to have goodie bags after the party.  Quickly, I went  to my cupboards to search if I might have some leftover party bags or boxes from their previous birthday parties but I couldn’t find anything. I went to myself, ah so much trouble to prepare these goodie bags. I just wanted to make it a nice and simple party.  Though I was unenthusiastic to prepa...

14   This is my request. I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug.’ If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!’—let her be the one you have selected as Isaac’s wife. This is how I will know that you have shown unfailing love to my master.” 15  Before he had finished praying, he saw a young woman named Rebekah coming out with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Abraham’s brother Nahor and his wife, Milcah.   16   Rebekah was very beautiful and old enough to be married, but she was still a virgin. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up again. - Genesis 24:14-16 NLT Abraham’s servant requested him to search for a wife for his son, Isaac. He then prayed for signs from God to direct him to the woman that God wanted to marry Abraham’s son. Rebekah suddenly appeared to him while he was still praying to God and he knew that she was from God. In our lifetime we ...

13  “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.   14  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14 NIV This verse has been dwelling in me for the past few weeks. Many of us, Christians know well about this verse. But sadly not many people are willing to squeeze through the narrow place because it is not as easy to walk as the broad road. We might feel lonely because there is not plenty of company with us going through this narrow road. It is a difficult journey and it may feel as if there is no blessing while going through it. However, we all know that blessing will always be waiting for us at the end of the journey. If we know that the ‘reward’ will be prepared for us as promised by God, why are we sometimes still reluctant to move forward on this narrow path? Because the journey will require us to let go of our old comfor...