Pride and Discouragement

As servants of the Lord, the devil will do what it takes for us to lead and serve with pride so that we we put God behind us and rely on our own strength. Not only that, when we make mistakes, he discourages us so that we will feel so much sadness, sorrow, pain and discomfort, which impedes us and blocks our hearts from serving our Lord Jesus Christ

This year’s Regional Youth Conference here in the BIG SKY REGION was such a HUGE BLESSING. There were a lot of blessings and the service team was such an honour to serve with because they were all doing their part.

We were like one body and we were all different parts of it … the body being Christ.

Although there were lots of good stuff, there were also things we could improve on personally, spiritually, and as a community as a whole. I really praise God because He pushed me out of my comfort zone to not only give praise and honour people for doing a good job, but also lovingly correct people so that they would realize that the evil one is trying to attack us so that we fall apart. Man, the evil one put up a fight. Even for myself, there were moments were fatigue would set in, I would make a mistake and feel discouraged. I think the “GAME CHANGING” moment in RYC for me was going to CONFESSION.

Praise God I had the time to go to confession because it was so uplifting. But, going into the confession, and after going 2 weeks ago, I actually did not know what to confess. My pride was getting in the way because I thought I DID NOT SIN or did not know what to confess. So I told Father Jeffrey, “Father, I just wanted to say I am not sure what to confess because all the deep and dark sins I’ve done in the past is non-existent since I’m trying to protect the call of a full-time worker.”

Then Father said, “The devil loves to attack us by making us PRIDEFUL and DISCOURAGED as servants of the Lord. Even as priests and the holiest of the holy goes through these attacks. Just remember WHO CALLED YOU and WHY YOU HAVE BEEN CALLED. Do ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST.”

These simple words made me realize that I was being PRIDEFUL and that I needed to humble myself and trust in God and His plan so much more. There were times where I would be trying to help other COMMITTEES instead of just worry about the PASTORAL FORMATION of the whole RYC.

After that confession, I was hit with a sudden feeling of oppression and disappointment because the transition from sports competitions to the workshops DID NOT EXIST. No one was moving and no one was taking initiative to gather all the Youths to the workshops. We were in a stand still. The CFC coordinators had to take charge and tell all the YOUTH to go to their workshops. On Top of that, we were running behind schedule. Man, I felt discouraged, I really felt like I failed to do my part as a FTPW, but remembering the words that Father Jeffrey had said in my confession, I prayed and needed to discern on what to do next. Praise God, the Lord gave me the grace to express the concern we had with the transition and remind everyone that WE ARE IN A BATTLE and that we need to focus on our service for the Lord but TO MAKE SURE WE ARE NOT DISCOURAGED. This service is not comfortable, we will make mistakes and be upset but how fast do we turn to God and ask for His guidance and peace?

Praise God for this loving correction not only to the service team but within my self because as the RYC moved forward, The Holy Spirit filled us to work as one body,  ending the RYC with so much joy, happiness and peace.

With This, May God be praised.