The Retreat was purely accomplished by faith. A few people commented on what I have done for the retreat but to be honest, I do not think I have done anything. I think the only thing that I have contributed for this retreat was putting everyone into a position for them to serve. We are one body in Christ; without each other, we cannot function. This retreat is an example. The only reason it went well is because we worked as a team and were willing to serve each other.
This retreat has brought us closer to each other than ever before. Well, at least for some of us. Maybe you disagree, but to me, one step closer to God is also one step closer to your brothers & sisters in Christ. Experiencing the incident together, working as a team to resolve the issue and fasting and praying together were great steps in our relationship.
I never thought that fasting together could bring us closer but when I overheard some conversations regarding how the fasting went, I think the experience was a step forward for all of us in our journey of faith. Some of us had not fasted before and I admit that I am one of them. I thought it was going to be easy, 12 hours without food, but it turned out to be harder than I thought. There are so many temptations around me that I almost tripped. There were voices in my head that tried to convince me it was okay to sneak some snack and I was very very tempted! It is just like our life! There are so many temptations that can result in sin and we just have to keep reminding ourselves to watch out!
After everything that we’ve been through, I re-examined myself and my journey of faith. From the Sunday's reading, I realized that I have been busy serving here and there and have not spent enough time with The Lord. I worked on doing morning devotions the morning after we came back from the retreat. It was hard getting out from my warm comforter at 6:00am!
Through some conversations, I also realized that sometimes it is easier to justify ourselves and convince ourselves how godly we are by practicing morning devotion, reading Bible on a constant basis and praying frequently. However, without applying all these things we learn from the Bible into real life, we are no different than the Pharisees! We avoid people whom we find it hard to deal with, we avoid serving in church because there are too many conflicts, we avoid leading because we don't want to put up with all the opinions, we avoid this and that and...when can we put into practice the Christ-like characters we spent hours learning from the Bible?
Dr. Liu & Haedy's message was challenging and intriguing. Their testimony was very encouraging. It resonates in my heart for the past few days. To be or not to be? I need to figure out my "nard" and His purpose for my life.
