Orang bilang kalau seorang pemimpin haruslah bisa menjadi teladan bagi anggota-anggotanya, dan prinsip inilah juga diterapkan kepada para servant leaders di AmoreDio. Teman-teman yang menjadi servant leaders diharapkan untuk bisa mendalami iman Katolik mereka dengan lebih lagi, melalui devosi harian, datang ke seminar / acara-acara Katolik, dan recently dengan membaca buku-buku yang berhubungan dengan Katolisasi.
Beberapa bulan lalu kami membuat video singkat tentang buku yang kami baca. Udah liat belum videonya? Check them out on our Youtube channel if you haven’t already! 🙂
Nah, untuk sesi review dan sharing buku v2.0 ini, kami tidak melakukannya melalui video melainkan tulisan. Yuk kita simak bersama-sama ulasan buku yang pertama dari teman kita Rani:
Book title: God of All Comfort
Author: Hannah Whitall Smith
Memorable quote: “Because of His unfathomable love, the God of love, when He sees His children resting their souls on things that can be shaken, must remove those things from their lives in order that they may be driven to rest only on the things that cannot be shaken.” (page 100)
Siapa sih yang nggak guilty of holding on to something / some activities / someone yang kadang ngejauhin kita dari Tuhan? Entah itu too much addiction with games / online shopping, too much browsing on Instagram / social media, too much involved dengan negative vibes colleagues, etc. sampe kita sendiri ga punya waktu or worst, turn against God. Passage ini terutama act as wake up call for me, karena beberapa bulan terakhir my work consumes my time so much yang membuat gue jauh dari Tuhan.
Berdoa sering ketiduran, waktu morning devotion juga sangat tight, kadang nggak selesai / setengah hati, serving di ministry juga berkurang, dan setiap kamis sekarang I hardly go to cell group because I work overtime everyday. I literally barely have time for myself, let alone God. Nggak cuma time aja, I’ve also turned into someone whose impatient, bitch easily, and worst of all, unable to serve my family which was my goal in the first place.
I guess logically kita semua tau kalo kita mesti get rid of things yang bikin kita menjauh dr Tuhan. Tapi susah ya dilaksanakan? Like the above example, I know the solution is easy. Just quit the job, right? Tapi the enemy selalu saja bisa manipulate and tempt us;- there’s ego inside me that insist that I can overcome this, stop being a pussy and just suck up, and I know I will prove myself that I’m capable of doing well in this job – there’s worry and doubt inside; what’s gonna happen if I’m unemployed? Will I find another job easily? Should i stay in Indo? Or should I head back to Singapore / Australia? What’s gonna happen with my family? etc.
Indeed, the devil is the mastermind of evil acts that pull ourselves away from the Lord. Apalagi di masa2 lengah dan trial and when you’re so far away from God.
But I noticed that it all comes back to trust and surrender to Him. There is only one permanent, unshakeable, immovable factor in our lives and that’s God and our relationship to Him. That I must “depend on the Lord and His strength and always seek Him for help” (1 Chronicles 16:11). After all, even Heavenly Father look after birds and grass, who do not labor or spin (Matthew 6:25-34).
That I should take courage to leave behind or remove things/people that further my distance to God, because when I “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt 6:33).
I’m so blessed that even in these trials God still equipped me with angels: there are friends who fervently pray hard for my faith (2 of my friends encouraged me to do morning devotion of Litany of Trust), that He always found me (again and again) when I’m lost.
So in this new year, I decided to quit my job; enrolled myself in retreat at the end of January, and serve my family (so they can get to know God more). I trust that He will provide my needs, I trust that He will lead me to things that He has planned for me… on top of the overwhelming peace I felt, I’m super stoked and excited of the new chapters He will bring!