Great Cloud of Witnesses

The (for lack of a better expression) circle of life is interesting, don't you agree? How at whatever stage of your life you're in, you're able to look back and see how you've grown, how much you've changed. How you can look at people younger than you and see them going through the same struggles you once wrestled with. But the same way you've been refined through those tough times, you know you've to let them go through these pains to come out a stronger, better person.

It makes me understand better the relevance of the Bible, the relevance of listening to other people's testimonies, etc. It's like Hebrews 12:1a, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses..." or even the song Find Us Faithful where the line goes "oh may all who've gone before us find us faithful..." It's fascinating to me because in my mind, it's like the picture of life is becoming clearer bit by bit, or like how I'm slowly untangling the big mess that is life (however you want to picture it).

It amuses me even more so because just as so many have been such great witnesses in my life, I start to wonder when is it my turn to be a witness to someone else, or if I have already started doing so without (consciously) knowing. I always picture cheerleaders, standing by the side of the road cheering on the runners (of life) and getting all excited each time they reach a checkpoint, a milestone. And then my mind starts to get a little confused because I'll try to figure out how it'll work outside the space/time continuum where I'm a 'cheerleader' yet a runner at the same time. Like do you run+cheer at the same time or are the paths parallel so you can see the people of higher/lower levels? But I digress.

And for future reference (for myself): If others can go through tough times or get through disappointments and still praise the Lord, so can I. If Job is able to praise God despite all that happened to him, I can learn to be that way too. It scares me because I've seen people 'give up on faith' or get all angry and whatnot, just because they did not get to 'follow their dreams' or 'get what they want'. Because I may find myself in a similar situation in a few months' time, I want all the reminder I can get - that God is faithful and that He knows what is BEST for me. And I guess there is no better time than now to start refining my heart and my mind. And one day, I'll not only be able to look back and see how I was refined through all these, but I'll be able to encourage someone else who will/may go through this as well. How exciting! Haha.

Come what may, I want to choose to praise Him all the days of my life.