A venue for the youth to express themselves and to share with our readers their mind, their heart and their soul. We are inviting you – students and young professionals – to drop by Our Hideaway and let us know how you are doing.
By Sherbien Dacalanio
I have always been so confused and so full of endless questions. Why have I been born? What’s my purpose in life? I always thought that my life was worthless. I wished I was never born. When I’m alone, the call of death always lingered in my mind. And it became worse to the point that deep inside my mind I started questioning God. If He is a merciful God, then why did He create hell for sinners? Why did He care enough to create us and then let us suffer if we commit sin? Why did He give us free will and when we fail we are damned? Isn’t he making remote controlled objects out of us?
One day, I was assigned to interview a group of young seminarians for our class newsletter. Louie’s story struck me most. Louie thought finishing a degree and landing a stable job could make him happy and contented. But he was wrong. There was something lacking. Then he realized he would only be happy and satisfied in life if he would become a priest and serve God’s people.
That night, I became busy encoding my interview with these seminarians and I said to myself, “I’m tired. I’ll take a break first.” I got a magazine to read and there was an article by Barbara Stephens, Learning to Trust God, that caught my attention. It says there that Habakkuk questions God on why He allows evil and violence to prevail. In the Bible the prophet Habakkauk is the first one to dare to call God to account. For centuries, their doubts, Habakkuk was the first biblical author who asked boldly: “Why does the Lord allow injustice to triumph? When he punishes one oppressor, why does he replace with someone worse?” The Lord answers Habbakuk that He has got plans for His people which will be revealed in an appointed time. But while we are waiting for it, we should remain faithful.
This has answered some of my questions above. God created us so we will give glory to Him by serving him and our fellowmen. Louie had seen this and therefore set off to his own journey, living out his purpose. What I need therefore to fully understand life is to also know my purpose and live it out.