iced lemon tea

I
slept facing my laptop that was placed on the chair beside my bed. During the
course of my sleep, i noticed that the screen wasn’t turned off when i set it
up to automatic-turn-off after, approximately, 10min of inactivity. I feel so
tired and sleepy that the image is quite blurry and uninteresting. In my dreamy state and being at the edge of
losing my consciousness, i saw images reflecting on the screen… two, three,
five human figures that are moving behind my own reflection. I’m alone in my
room and it’s impossible to have someone around. I still feel dizzy but i can’t
let that moment pass, co’s i know I’ll harbor more questions later when the
answer is only available during that moment. I can’t move. My eyes want to give
in. In between being immobilized and that blurry image, i manage to keep my
eyes open and figured out what is happening. I decided to tilt my head a bit,
and notice the effect to the reflections am seeing. They seem to draw nearer
and go far by the moment. But every time i tilt my head, they tilt theirs also.
I am convinced; they’re all my reflections just as you can see more than one
shadow if you also have more than one source of light. How it happened as i
have an LCD screen, i don’t know. But am certain, they’re all my reflections as
they did not behave differently from each other.

A
moment later, a little lower at the left side of my screen (at the surface of
my bed), i observed two more figures. Two pumpkin-like images grin at me. I’m
just thankful that my confidence in God doesn’t permit me to run from that
scene; else, i could have started a new ghost story on the above accounts of
images. But this time, it is no human figure and therefore, can’t be my own
reflection. Though afraid, i still tried to have a deeper look on these two
images. I can see that they’re real. They’re not drawings or any flat image.
Their eyes and the way they grin are getting clearer as moment passes by. I am
getting more afraid but I can’t run… and i will not run. I’m confident that
my God is greater than that agent of Satan, if ever it is. So i pray, and
knowing that there’s power in the name of Jesus, I cast the image away in
Jesus’ name. I know that Satan trembles in Jesus’ name. And i know that nothing
and no one can stand in that name. Fear is crippling my faith, but i know God
will never let me go. I won’t run even it seems that there’s no help coming my
way. It’s not because I’m brave enough, but because i trust enough that God
will deliver me. No saint will ever run from the devil. That saint is God’s,
and I am God’s saint. But I began to wonder why on the third time i invoked
Jesus’ name still, the image aren’t getting off. I stood my ground, still
gazing on the pumpkin image… A moment later, the image is getting flat. The
color changes from bloody orange to navy blue. It’s losing life slowly, until
what i see before me was a printed design of my bed sheet at the same time i
woke up.

I
did not find it funny as through all those period, i’m wrestling with something
that appeared real to me. I’m not claiming a supernatural experience also. I
don’t want to give credit to Satan and his works. He plays deception by
illusion. Illusion - because he is good at that. Even pretending to be an angel
of light, he does. Satan can give no
more than false claim and lies. Satan is so clever and wise that he can make
things appear real and true, but if we could only give another look at it, we
will know that it is not.

Lot
of us are victims of superficial deception. We judge people by how they look.
We put a conclusion on issues when what we have, is only half of the story. We
took haste in pronouncing our verdict without taking a second glance of the
picture. We blame God when things don’t go our way. We can’t stand on what
appears to be chaos. We turn our backs from trial and suffering. We see
rejection in pain, and in life’s troubles, abandonment. We fail to witness
God’s goodness and greatness by turning back when He’s about to do it. And
sometimes, we missed seeing how His glory was displayed in the midst of pain
because we focus on our own weaknesses.

Once
more, God showed to me that if i would trust Him to deliver me, He will. In
fact, He did. Sometimes God speaks to us in a still, small voice. He wants us
to be still before Him in the midst of trouble and see that He is God. We are
easily turned up side down by circumstances, when God wants us to hang on. Our
relationship to Him is anchored on His supremacy over all things. He is in
control and still is on His throne!

no parent would ever let their
children grow up in the wrong side of life. Even before we were born, people
are looking forward what will be 20 or 40 years from birth. All of us would
agree that hopefully, they would find us great.

Values were infused, environment
was styled, and if possible, they would direct our every step just to safeguard
us from outside influence. Temptation is universal and curiosity is hard to
control. It’s not enough to be willing and sincere. You have to set up your
external defenses and protect yourself from outside attempts and make sure it
won’t reach your will and emotion. Mind and heart is your last line of defense.
Laxity is extremely dangerous. To be
complacent is taking risk. And risk, most of time if not always, spoils your
gain and eventually collapsed in a moment what you have safeguarded for ages.
Honor and integrity is not dispensable. It cannot be regained. You can only go
as far as collecting and connecting the pieces, but you can never restore it
back to the original state.

Every one of us is connected in
many ways. Even the dead still influence the living. It’s how we live our life
that one or two from this planet is building his’. We keep on talking about
people who lived thousands of years ago. And why wouldn’t we? They’ve
accomplished something unique and made some extraordinary decisions that shake
off their era. We connect ourselves to people we really don’t know, except that
we shared with them the same failure (or success). We cry and laugh with
unknown individuals because we felt what they’re feeling for the moment.

As we grow, a number of eyes are
looking at us. Theirs are eyes that don’t speak and never moves. Some eyes are
visible others are not. Others are hostile, while some are warm. It’s a sure
proverb that we cannot please everybody, and sometimes we even reap the frown of
majority. But whatever life we chose, it must be bare out in mind that this
life must be live out to the fullest. To be right always is a costly position.
But nothing comes cheap in a noble desire of doing what is right.