Do Not Give Up! (2nd Part)

If you have watched the video I attached in this Blog, about Nick Vujicic (Inspirational Man Without Limbs), You will find no reason to give up in any of your battles.

This man never had the childhood that we enjoyed. He never had the JS Prom or the Senior Prom or the TGIF that we spent with our friends… He grew up struggling to understand and to find meaning in his sufferings. Everything seemed harder for him.

He could not understand…The doctors could not find a single reason why he was born without limbs.


And yet, that did not stop him from finding his own corner in this big universe…That did not stop him from soaring the skies!

He uses his “gift” to inspire people, to give hope, to just tell everyone to never ever give up!

Sometimes in life, when we are hit with a lot of burdens, a lot of difficulties, we tend to forget the good times. We tend to forget that before we have fallen, we were standing tall…we were on top of things…we were in control…

We were even tempted to question the wisdom of God…Why Lord? Why Me?

Several times in my life, I had been so stupid to always ask Him that…I was always complaining and whining first, before I would even try to understand the whole situation.

It was because of pride that I even have the guts to complain…I sometimes felt so undeserving of the little hassles in life. And even more undeserving of the major difficulties that would be hurled at me.

I guess, the hard-headedness in accepting His message was the reason why He could not complete his purpose in me. That is why, I (felt), I had a bigger share of trials as there would be more frequent blows to endure.

I would complain, I would whine, then I would walk out and give up…

But things have changed now…

Someone very close to me hit me hard when she told me: Who are we anyway to be spared from any sufferings when even Jesus willingly carried His cross, without COMPLAINING AT ALL, despite the fact that He is free of sin.

If the son of God willingly carried His cross and even got nailed on the cross until His body succumbed to death, who are we then to complain?

You know what? I stopped complaining…

I would not deny any emotions that would hit me. If I am angry, I feel the anger. If I am hurt, I cry.. I respond to it in the normal fashion, without the whining part… I would savor it, feel it…accept it.

I also read somewhere that if we feel we are facing the greatest battle in our life, the burden becomes lighter if: First, we ask God to be our partner who will be with us all throughout our ordeal; and Second, we ask Him to channel the sufferings into something that would bless someone who is in need of healing or rescuing.

We pray that He would not allow our sincere sacrifice to go into waste…That we will not suffer in vain. We pray that as we deal with our trials, someone, somewhere, is getting an answer to his or her prayers, or someone gets healed from a lingering illness, or a family has been reunited, a relationship has been restored.

For every tear I cried, for every stab of pain that would hit me, for every little sad news that would disturb my peace, and for every negative and frustrating judgment that would be thrown at me. I just ask Him to hold me by the hand, and to hug me…and I just ask Him to answer someone else’s prayer.

Of course, the path that I have chosen is not easy…I know, it is easier to complain, to escape, to hurt back, to ask for a vindication, to just walk away…Not only that, I guess, the worse consequence of my choice is that friends are not very supportive and understanding, some even pity me at how I have turned from a fighter to a “loser.” Some would even judge me as pretentious.

But I just have this to say: the law of the harvest is very real…In time, In God’s perfect time, I will reap what I sow.

To end this, let me quote Nick Vujicic:

Sometimes in life when we fall down, we felt that we do not have the strength to get back up…But, you see, if I fail 100 times, I will try to get up 100 times…If I fail then I give up, then do you think that I will ever get up? No! But if I fail, then I try again, then again, and again…But, I just want you to know that it is not the end. ..It matters how you are going to finish…Are you going to finish strong?

Cel P. Paras July 28, 2009 ©