By: Esther

Read: Numbers 8:1-9:23, Mark 13:14-37, Psalm 50:1-23, Proverbs 10:29-30

The Lord, the Mighty One, is God, and he has spoken;
He has summoned all humanity from where the sun rises to where it sets.
From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines in glorious radiance.
(Psalm 50:1-2)

Relate: Where does my energy come from to my El Shaddai?

We have learned in AP Chemistry’s last unit that there is a certain energy between the reactants and the activated complex to trigger a reaction, which is what we call activation energy. Well, nothing can really change this activation energy except the catalyst. 

I always feel like I have been trapped in this pattern, no energy around supports me to overcome the barrier of my “activation energy.” I feel no strength and passion in me to climb over the curve and trigger my “reaction” in order to get my “product.” If we put the concept in real life, I stopped praying to God, I lost focus on the sermons, I quickly did the requirements for my journal without deeply meditating… I am in a low mode of motivation. 

While the external factors have been helping me to get over the activated complex, there is chapel every week, prayer time in every Christian living class, and Bible study every Friday. But there is always just a little bit until it triggers my reaction, I think I need something inside.

React: In our choir class we have a song named “If Ye Love Me,” the lyrics were written from John 14:15-16: 

If ye love me, keep my commandments.
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;

Jesus told us if we love Him, we should keep his commandments, which means we should obey Him. I personally interpreted this as an “equilibrium” equation: if we love Jesus, we obey Him; if we obey Him, we love Jesus. What really brings me peace is when I see in the next verse. Jesus said he will pray for us, and bring back another comforter that shall stay with us forever. It sounds like He has opened a new way for me, I am not depending on my own strength anymore, there is a comforter here to help me and guide me. I will say this comforter—the Spirit—is my catalyst. I see how God really wants to reconnect with us and build a deeper and a firmer relationship with Him, so he sent His Spirit down so he can be present with us at the same time. It is He himself trying to reach me, because I can’t climb over my mountain and I am burdened by my own power. He takes off my worries, my complaints, and my laziness. He lowers my activation energy and creates another alternative pathway for me to go.

Another verse catches my attention: 

For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments. And his commandments do not weigh us down…—1 John 5:3

We should all see how God stated His words here. It was God’s love for us that came first, then our obedience should follow. And His commandments are not for us to be burdened, to be stressed out, or to be worried. God’s love towards us and our love to Him will never be an equilibrium. His love is much greater and deeper than anyone on the earth could reach. He is our El Shaddai.

Respond: