God is good. I wanna share something that happened just about an hour plus ago. Thought about putting this on the STAC blog, but I think the content's not really appropriate.

This might sound really dumb, but I've been dying to watch the Avengers cartoon for some time, but for one reason or another, I keep missing the show. So today, I figured I could finally give it a watch, since it would be the episode after the set I already had (thanks to Cleon).

True enough, an obstacle soon arose. Mom suggested we go watch Transformers. I calculated it would end half an hour before my show, hence giving me ample time to get home right after. We went for the movie, which was really long, and right after I knew Mom would wanna get dinner. I quickly told her and my siblings that I wanted to go home, so I went back with my Grandma.

Now okay, you must be thinking I'm quite a retard, giving up dinner with the family for a show. And I admit, it was stupid. Nonetheless, I wanted to get back home and fast. My urgency kinda caused me to neglect my Grandma a little. At one point she even said, "Wait for me." It took much effort to slow down, and by then it was already 6.50pm. My show started at 7pm.

I wanted to get Carl's Junior for dinner at first, but due to the time constraint I suggested we get food at the coffeeshop below our house. But Grandma insisted we got Carl's instead, which I did. The wait took about 10minutes, and I started to get a little impatient. Grandma must have noticed, cuz she asked me if I wanted to take a taxi back. I have to admit, I was tempted. But I guess logic caught up with me and I realised how stupid spending such money for a TV show would be.

So it was already past 7pm, and true enough, when we got to the bus-stop, it took another 10mins or so for the bus to arrive. All this time, I was trying hard not to get angry, and I was also contemplating my actions. Was I really going to let something so trivial get the best of me? Had I really given up time with my family for the sake of a cartoon?

When we finally got on a bus, it was crowded. I said a short prayer, telling God that it no longer mattered or not if I got home in time for my show. All I wanted was for Grandma to have a seat. Our God is faithful; despite the bus being filled with people, there was a single seat available for her. Praise the Lord.

All along the way, the bus made numerous stops at traffic lights which went red as soon as we neared them. I knew then I wouldn't have to miss the Avengers once again. A seat at the back cleared up a stop later, and after making sure no one else wanted it, I took it to give myself some time to think. My conclusion was as follows:

God is an awesome god. He never punishes us for our sins. He only ever teaches us lessons when He knows we need to learn them. I needed to learn that I had set my sights on something unimportant, and chosen that over what I already had--my family and the time I had with them. I learned that by doing so, I had lost not just one, but both things. It was an important lesson that would have cost a lot more in a different set of circumstances, but God is gentle, and chose to teach me in a manner that wouldn't result in dire consequences.

What's even more amazing was that, when I got home, I discovered that I had miscalculated the episodes and that I already had today's episode in my laptop. How wonderful is our God, to teach me the aforementioned lesson before letting me know I hadn't actually lost anything!

Yeah, God is great. He works in ways big and small. He never punishes, but is merciful and gives us ample time to realise we have done wrong. And when He knows we're not gonna get to the point on our own, He comes and helps in His own unique and gentle way. Praise the Lord! =)