Author: Mark Co

As I think about what to write for this week’s blog (I know it’s a couple days late, sorry!), I’m asking the Lord for inspiration.  As I ponder what transpired last week, the message I keep receiving is that it is the Lord Who sustains me.  It is Him Who keeps me going in my life.  It is not I, but Him Who makes things work out for for the best in my life.  Who am I, but a piece of clay, being molded and shaped to be the person He wants me to be.  Like a Potter’s Hand, it is His Hand that sustains me, that keeps me up, that keeps me from falling, that shapes me into how He wants me to be shaped … when I fall, He lifts me up, when I am weak, He is strong, when something bad happens, He turns it into something good, when things seem to be going bad and ugly, He makes all things beautiful in His perfect time … His love sustains me.

“But You, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One Who lifts up my head. I cry aloud to the Lord, and He answers me from His holy hill. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the Lord sustains me”

Psalm 3:3-5

May God be praised.

 

As I write this blog, and as I think about what has been going through my heart and mind lately, I ponder on the things God has asked and called me to do in my life.  From the little things to the bigger things, God seems to keep calling me to new heights, to new beginnings, to new journeys, calling me to serve Him continually.  There was a point actually this week when I questioned (rhetorically) … “why.”  I wonder why, in the brokenness that I seem to have, and in the weaknesses and failures I have in my life, and in the things I am going through, I ask “why would God keep asking me to do things for Him, thinking to myself, but I’m so bad, I’m this and I’m that” …. of course there is something in me that convicts me to serve the Lord, and that wants to, but there is also something that makes me see how unworthy I am in being asked to do something for God.  I mean, who am I really … but a big sinner.  Yet He keeps asking and leads me to Himself.  In this I see the Love of God.  That in my weaknesses and brokenness, He continues to shower His love and His blessings and His Grace in my life, that He continues to call me, a broken and imperfect sinner (one of the worst to be honest, lots of things I need to work on in my life seriously), closer to Himself.  Despite my stubbornness and disobediences and sins, He doesn’t give up and does not let me go.  It’s like He is running after me.  This actually reminds me and urges me to share about the story of the broken clay pot … it’s too long to include in this blog, but if you can, I would ask you to Google it and you can read it there.  It’s basically about two clay pots which were used to bring water.  One of them was cracked, and so the water would drip out as the pots were being carried.  The cracked clay pot would feel ashamed and apologetic for losing all the water through this flaw that it had.  Little did that pot know that the water that was dripping ended up watering the seeds which the “water bearer” planted and it sprouted flowers!  The water bearer knew about the clay pots “cracks” and flaws, and took full advantage of it.  This is how I see God work in people’s lives.  Reminds me of Paul’s encounter with the thorn on his side, when God told him that His power is made perfect in weakness.  And so this then allows me to ponder on how God truly uses the humble in heart.  And so I pray and ask the Lord, to get rid of my foolish pride, and to make me humble, not with a false sense of humility, but with true and real humility, that comes from Him alone.  So I ask for everyone’s prayers as I take these steps with you in this journey of faith.

May God be praised.

So, I guess this is the first time I am actually posting something on a blog.  Not really sure how to do one, but let me see how the Lord will lead this post … how He will lead this journey, this new beginning as a mission volunteer.

Before making the decision to become a mission volunteer, I was actually unsure if I was going to apply or not.  I still remember the first time I ever thought of the idea of becoming a full-time missionary, a full-time pastoral worker.  This was back in April 2012.  I went to Vancouver for work purposes.  Little did I know, something in me felt an urge to serve, to serve God somewhere far away from home, somewhere outside the comfort of the city where I have lived in for more than 17 years.  I met up with Ate Lissa Untalan while in Vancouver, who at that time was a FTPW, and I spoke with her about what was going on through my mind at that time.  We had a very good, and deep conversation, about our spiritual lives.  Then conference came, it was in Ottawa.  It was there where I felt a strong calling from the Lord, as if He wanted me to go, to come to Him, closer to Him, a call to serve Him totally and completely.  It was then when I first expressed a desire to possibly discern if full-time work was what God was calling me to do.  I spoke with Butch Baria, as well as John Acosta concerning these desires that were being stirred within my heart.  I then found out that to be an SFC full-time pastoral worker, one needed to have completed some sort of post-secondary education.  This was a big blow to me, since at that time, I had not finished my university degree.  So there was a decision I needed to make, whether to go back to school (which I dredded at that time), or take some courses to obtain a certification of some sort, or … well I wasn’t sure what to do.  I prayed hard, and thought about it through and through.  Until finally, I made the decision to go back to school and finish my degree, which would take approximately 2 years, finishing by the spring of 2015.  I enrolled for school, I got into the classes I registered for, and I felt a peace within me, knowing I had made the right (or best) decision.  Then John Acosta made a visit here and we were able to talk about the program.  Funny thing is, he eventually told me that if I wanted to apply to become an SFC FTPW, there were exceptions and that I would no longer need to have post-secondary education.  This made me laugh, since I had already registered for school.  So my discernment continues …. the MV program is finally in effect, and here I am, taking that step, not sure if it’s a big or small one, but nonetheless putting my feet into the water of where the Lord is leading me in my life.  What am I expecting in this program?  I don’t know, I don’t know what to expect.  Can I see what’s going to happen in the future?  No I can’t, I can’t see and I don’t know where this program will take me.  But what I do know, is that the Lord is guiding every step of the way, and I leave it up to His VERY CAPABLE Hands, and wait, and see, where this road will take me.  It’s a very fitting start to the year, with the theme of BEHOLD and PONDER, which allows me to have this grace to be able to behold the work of the Lord, and ponder on His works and His power in my life to make all things possible.

May God be praised.