In Your Hands

Reserved for You

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." John 14:1,2

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I was walking in a dark alley desperate to see some light when suddenly a blazing door suspended in space appeared from nowhere. It was opening itself to give way for my entrance. I hurriedly walked towards the door thinking it would close any minute.

When I got inside, there was a loud bang behind me and when I looked back, I saw the door was securely shut. There was no way of escaping, I thought.

I didn't know where I was. So I walked around figuring where I am. Before me was a lawn neatly covered with bermuda grass, multicolored flowers and well-trimmed trees everywhere. The place resembled a paradise.

In the midst of this natural perfection, there stood a complex structure, a building made of glass shining under the glowing sun. I saw people in the vicinity walking to and fro, until I became part of them. We sang praises, we studied Scriptures, we prayed every now and then. Living in this kind of community brought so much peace, a foretaste of heaven that I decided to stay.

Then one day, I saw everyone running and shouting. There was a great panic everywhere. The glass building was collapsing. The ground was in tremor, breaking and eating up all it could consume.

Women were crying. Men were rushing to find a secure place to escape from the fury of the earthquake. Many found shelter in a nearby cave.

As I was about to run for my safety, the blazing door suddenly reappeared in space inviting me for a way out. I was confused as I glanced back to my companions with those pleading eyes. I heard one said,

"Don't leave. The earthquake won't last. Everything will be okay."

I looked at the blazing door once more and back to my companions, then to the surroundings.

"The paradise is completely shattered and beyond repair." I heard a voice saying these discouragements in my ears. I was so afraid that I closed my eyes and covered my ears with my palms. But I could still hear the voice: Go! You're not safe here. Go!

So, I reached for the door, went out and with a sudden and familiar bang, the door shut by itself.

Outside, I saw a man waiting for me with arms wide open. Finally, I found myself between my father's comforting embrace.
All my fear was gone, but the door, when I looked back was nowhere to be found. And there was this darkness hovering around me again.

A gentle tap on my shoulder brought me to reality. Fully awake, I recalled what happened and was glad to discover that everything was just a dream. However, my roommate told me after listening to my dream,

"You will encounter trials in this school, the very reason why you will quit and transfer to another school. And your family will be happy about it, especially your father. But if you go out, you can never come back again. The door will be forever shut before you."

Her interpretation sounded like a warning but for the next days, I completely forgot that dream.

A year after in the boarding school, I decided to quit. Life was not easy away from my comfort zone. So, the following school year, I transferred in a Jesuit school, the nearest in our hometown.

It's been almost a week since I attended classes in my new school, when this particular dream came to me not only one evening, but for three consecutive evenings, disturbing my peace.

I knew, the Lord was speaking to me through this dream, reminding me that I should go back to the boarding school, finish my course in Theology and allow Him to lead my life in a path that maybe narrow and hard but it is where His glory shall be made known in my life.

After sinking myself in prayer and contemplation He gave me peace that I decided to go back in the boarding school. It hurt me so much to break my parents' hearts, especially my Dad's.

They were mad at me, of course. Against their will, I left home leaving my parents worried and definitely, hurting.

When I arrived in the school, I went straight to the registrar and asked her whether I could still enrol. She said, "...only if you have a space in the dorm."

I was sure, by this time the dorm was already filled and there was no room left for me. The only option left was to live in the village. Villagers are working students. They will be accepted on one condition that they are willing to work in the faculty homes. The problem was that, even if I am willing, I did not know how to work. No, I won't take the village. I know I have a place in the dorm. So, I approached the assistant dean and she told me,

"Oh, you're lucky, someone just moved out and quit. You can take her place."

I was no longer listening to her, because my mind was at the girl I met at the entrance with all her things. She must be the one, I said to myself.

Few minutes later, I was already holding my class cards and on the way to my new room. When I got inside, nobody was around. But I was sure the empty bed was for me. Then I heard a voice saying, "I reserved this bed for you."

God is truly amazing. There are times, He communicates to us in ways we never anticipate . He allows things to happen in our life that we may lean only to Him to prove that with Him, there is always a way when there seems to be no way before us. He is the One who reserved that bed for me in the dorm, but more than that, He is the One who has reserved a place for me and you in eternity.

Prayer:
Allow us, oh Father God, to submit ourselves to your leading that You can find us following only Your perfect will in our lives by the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit. We claim for the promise of spending eternity with You in the mansion You reserved for each one of us. In Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray. Amen.