“Communicating hope and trust in our time.”

- Pope Francis

The miracle of surrender

Mau Obon

By Mau Obon

I HAD my “worst” travel experience last week. I was told to attend a seminar in Cebu City. The office will shoulder the expenses and asked me how I’d like to travel. I said I’d take the plane and gave them my preferred flight schedule. But here’s what happened:

August 22 – A day before I travelled, I still don’t have my ticket. I don’t even know where in Cebu will I be going to. So, I called up the office and asked them if they can just give me my travel details. I didn’t get any answer.
8:00 p.m. – An officemate called, and told me that he already got his ticket, but his flight was at 6:40 a.m. for Manila then Cebu. I started to get worried. I didn’t even know what time I was supposed to be at the airport.
9:00 p.m. – I called up the regional office. I learned that it was the main office in Manila which booked our flights, and I was told to just wait for an email.

10:00 p.m. – There was still no email. I was already in a quandary whether to go to Tacloban or not. I prayed for guidance. I said that if it is His will that I go to Cebu, then everything will turn out fine. So, I decided to just go to Tacloban at 2:00 a.m. just in case I was booked also in the 6:40 a.m. flight to Manila.
August 23, 4:45 a.m. – I was already at the airport. I checked my phone, still no email. Fortunately, the PAL office was already open. I went there and asked if I was booked for a flight on that day. To my relief, I was, and it was on my chosen schedule.

I was glad I went ahead to Tacloban even without receiving any ticket. It was pure leap of faith. This is just one of the many life experiences which taught me the miracle of surrender. Submitting to God’s will is always a struggle for me. I fear the unknown, and I hate it when I am not in control. I put up a fight, I struggle against the odds. But life does not always allow me to do that. There always comes a point when I must bend my knees and bow down to the heavens.

What happens when I surrender? One may say that I could have travelled anyway even without the prayer. Yes, it’s true, but consider this, if I did not yield to God the fate of my plan to travel, I would have been filled with worries and would not have been able to sleep at all. I gained peace of mind because I surrendered. Every time I submit to God’s will, I allow myself to experience a miracle, because it is only then that I can feel the hand of God working though it all. Don’t get me wrong, but surrendering to God doesn’t mean being passive. I don’t think God wanted us to be lazy and make Him do all the work.

I requested to be booked in the 9:35 a.m. flight for Cebu City. This is exactly what I got. The best thing about arriving way too early for my flight was that, I had the chance to attend the Wednesday morning mass at the Redemptorist church. I was able to receive the Holy Eucharist before I travelled.

The night before, I thought I was going through my worst travel experience ever. You know that feeling of wanting something so badly and just when you were about to touch it, it blows up? Thank God for His graciousness, the fragments of the broken dream was put back together and it turned out even better, and all I did was surrender.

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