Deny Yourself: Be Submissive to God’s Guidance

I grew up in an ordinary family with four members. My mother is a Filipino catholic and I have been exposed to the Christian faith since my early childhood. However, my faith did not fully take root and grow until I became a student at a Baptist secondary school. I started to serve God and experience His molding along with my brothers and sisters at church.

God Knows Your Heart

In August 2018, I attended the Hong Kong Bible Conference, in which God spoke to me through messages each day. In particular, I was deeply impressed by the message in Isaiah 6, which mentioned God’s calling of Isaiah to be a prophet. When Isaiah saw God, he said, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty” (Is 6:5). Like Isaiah, I strongly felt that I was an unclean and sinful person at that time. I found myself living in sin and was thus too ashamed to come before God and be used by Him. However, God did not give up on me. Instead, He responded to my inner struggles and doubts through the messages of various speakers. When one of the speakers mentioned the trials and tribulations of David’s life, for example, I realized that what God values is not one’s abilities but one’s submissive heart in responding to Him. At that time, I only responded to God with silent prayers; however, God’s call stayed in my heart.

The Power of the Gospel

After the Bible Conference, I joined a mission trip to Cebu in the Philippines, which gave me a different perspective of my homeland. During the trip, we visited the mission fields and the local people living in cemeteries, the streets, and other slum areas. God allowed me to truly experience and witness the great and wonderful work of God. In a place filled with hardships, sorrow, death, and darkness, there lived a community that was filled with joy, warmth, and hope because of God’s love. Meanwhile, I was deeply touched by a missionary’s words: “As funds are limited, we can only help several families improve their lot. In fact, even with more money, we are still unable to help all those in need. Only one thing can truly help and change them, and that is the gospel.” God let me see the true needs of humans: distressed and sorrowful souls can find hope of life by believing in Christ after hearing the gospel.

        During the mission trip, God spoke to me many times through the sharing of the missionary, who described in great detail what she had learned about submission on her path of missionary ministry. For example, she had neither knowledge nor concepts about the mission field at the beginning but when God called her, she was submissive and responded by starting her service in that place with determination. She said to me encouragingly, “When God uses a person, He does not look at their abilities. If He is willing to use you, He will surely give you sufficient abilities. So far as you are willing to deny yourself and be submissive to God’s guidance, you will experience His provision that surpasses human imagination.” God responded to the doubts in my heart and touched me with these words. Throughout the trip, I kept thinking about what the missionary shared and what I saw again and again. After sharing my thoughts with the pastors who walked with me on that trip, I responded to God by praying with them and made up my mind to submit to His guidance and to serve Him. I prayed that God might give me clearer direction in the future.

Being Submissive to God’s Guidance

        In October 2018, I joined the Full-time Ministry Experiential Camp organized by the Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary. During the camp, I had a chance to experience the life of a seminary student. I attended classes there and shared the inspirations in my heart with the seminary students and teachers. What touched me most in the camp was the message shared by Dr. Clement Shum on Deuteronomy. He pointed out that the Levites did not seem to have obtained any land as their inheritance but they had actually been assigned the most precious portion, which was the privilege to serve God. Because of God’s saving grace for Israel, the Levites learned to be submissive and serve God on behalf of the Israelites. Instantly, I recalled the ample grace and guidance of God that I had experienced in my life. I thought: if God meant to call me to work for Him, on what grounds should I turn it down? Knowing my own inadequacies, I began to long for equipping myself through theological studies so that I might walk in the Lord’s steps.

        In the period 2019-2021, subsequent to the social incidents and the pandemic, I witnessed that many people were experiencing low ebbs and despair in their lives. During the pandemic, I also experienced the loss of family members, realizing how transient and unpredictable life could be. I became aware that I had to equip myself properly so as to serve others and bring the gospel of life and hope to them. Meanwhile, I am learning how to submit to God and deny myself in response to His calling for me to serve Him and others faithfully.