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| Disclaimer: This letter is intended for Christian readers. |
Most days I would complain of the bad choices I made in life. There are decisions I am not proud of and there are things I did that I thank God everyday for reminding me that there is wisdom in listening to older and wiser people in church.
I have gone through serious situations that I never thought 'teenage me' would ever survive, but I did - and that made me a whole lot stronger, more outgoing, and even confident in many ways. The Lord brought people in my life and took some out - which I now realize that the Lord had allowed to happen because I don't have space in my life for negative people anymore.
Recently, I have gone through a 9-month job contract away from home, and despite having a lot of people surrounding me, I have never felt so alone in my life. I cried a bucket of tears trying to sleep on the top bunk of a shared cabin, with my Bible and flashlight on my hand.
Days become months, and I was able to cope up with this different lifestyle where I work 11 hours a day with no days off, eating meals on a specific time, working non-stop from 5PM until 10PM, and many more. I tried to slip in my quiet time every night after work as it was the time I am most awake. It eventually turned into a happy routine and it didn't even occur to me that the 9 months was quickly passing by. Sure there are some days that felt dragging, but I was insanely focused on keeping my wits straight and just doing what I am supposed to do.
Why it's easier to choose Jesus all the time? Because I know in my heart that if I didn't, I wouldn't have reached my goals, I would have gone the other way and be disappointed with myself, I would have made bad choices, and I would have to look back through those months and gained absolutely nothing.
Don't get me wrong, I did have a good time choosing Him all the time. I did what a normal 20-something year old woman would do working on a cruise ship environment: crew parties, shore leaves, no-sleep-but-gotta-work-the-next-day kind of morning, almost got late for the 'all aboard time', almost got late for work (when we seriously just have to walk up for less than a minute to get to our workplace), and many other things normal young people go through. But trust, me, choosing Him every time will make your life easier.
People will see you differently, and will act differently around you. They would know better than to ask you to drink and party until 4 in the morning, or ask you to go to a bar full of strippers during an overnight dock in Tahiti or Mexico.
Why I choose to follow Him when most people think it's easier to just follow the crowd? Because whatever you do in life, it will get tough. It always gets tough for everyone. Yes, you could do something easier and worldly now because you think it's the obvious choice. But soon, it will get back to you and bite you in the a-s-s. I know the world tells us to "make mistakes" and "do whatever makes you happy, because what's more important than your happiness?", it's always what YOU want.
Well, newsflash - this life is not about you, sweetheart.
I admit, that I tend to be selfish too - it's human nature, but we should not forget that we owe our life to Christ - He is the reason for everything. So why not submit everything to Him? Even our happiness? Happiness is purely subjective, anyway. We can be happy about things we set our minds on.
"Mightier than the waves of the sea is His love for you." Remember that you were a nobody - a sinner destined to die an eternal death, but His love for you is GREATER than the waves of the high seas. Although we fail Him most days, His love for us is unfailing (Psalm 36:7). Imagine Him, picking you up like a speck of dust, saying "You are worth more than anything" (Matt. 10:29-31 NIV).
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