dear eo,

Dear 2020 eo,

If God had told you about the outcomes of life's future chapters that would unfold ahead of you, would you still be willing to try? If you knew you were going to fail at certain things, would you even start?

Randomly remembered a sermon psam preached and him saying this. A lot of the times, we move based on the potential of "success," whatever that may look like. There's the saying, "What would you do if you knew you could not fail?" I get the intentions of the quote, but... what would you do if you knew you would fail? But isn't that also the reason God doesn't always reveal the full picture to us? Because we probably won't give a second thought to fails.

But God's definition of success and failure is different from ours. And the lessons we learn along the way are, in a sense, the true "prizes" of any journey — our characters being molded...  us developing different perspectives of things... the community and friendships made along the way... And most of all, experiencing and knowing His deep, deep love for us in every circumstance...

So, 2020 eo, (or rather, eo of years way past), if I had told you about all the things that would happen in your life and categorize them under "Successes vs. Fails," you would probably make many different choices to avoid the fails. But I wonder if you would be able to get as close to God as you would have without the same choices and the same experiences. Relying on God would look quite different, I think. And I'm truly coming to know how much love God has for us in it ALL.... (though there is so much more to know...) and developing deeper gratitude for the people He's put into my life. I'm so so thankful T_T

Dear 2024 eo,

Let's keep trusting in God. Despite not knowing the end results... even if things don't work out expectedly... we know God is in the details, and He can turn what we think are the worst things into good, if we place our life in His hands.

Hwaiting!

— Phil 3.13-14

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

_________________________

"What would you do if you knew you could not fail?"

vs.

“Many times people think if God has called you to something, he’s promising you success. He might be calling you to fail to prepare you for something else through the failure.”

— Timothy Keller