“Masyadong maraming nangyayari nang sabay-sabay.”

If we were not in quarantine, this would be something we’d normally hear around February or March when students have their final exams.

But the pandemic swept over us mid-March. For the first few weeks, there was much uncertainty with whether the semester would continue or not. Students were busy with everything that needed to be done one moment—then had nothing to do in the next. 

Tuloy ba? Kaya pa ba?

On top of that, much of what we relied on for comfort was taken away. Among these comforts were being with friends face-to-face, the “freedom” of relative independence (for dormers), a stable allowance, good data connection, and the comfort we find in distractions.

For the first two months of the lockdown, we almost exclusively interacted with the “outside world” through social media. We go online to be relaxed and entertained, yet we find ourselves feeling even more tired, stressed, and frustrated because of what we see in the news. 

Mapapa-hinga ka na lang nang malalim.

We became more exposed to the very nature of social media—fast-changing, moment-to-moment, always-on. There’s an overload of information, and each bit of information seems to compete for your attention and even your emotions.

Ang sakit sa ulo at sa puso.

Add to that the chaos happening within ourselves and within our families. Because of the quarantine, things long buried (personal and family issues) come to the surface.

We end up saying the same thing: “Masyadong maraming nangyayari nang sabay-sabay.”

Because of all these, we begin asking God: “Lord, asan Ka sa lahat nang ‘to? Andito Ka ba? Naiintindihan Mo ba ang nangyayari sa ‘kin?”

Andito Ka ba?

While the pandemic has stripped away a lot of unimportant things, it has also exposed those that keep us from encountering God. But where is He?

Where shall I go from your Spirit?

    Or where shall I flee from your presence?

 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

 If I take the wings of the morning

    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

 even there your hand shall lead me,

    and your right hand shall hold me.

Psalm 139:7–10

A hand that leads can be at a distance. A hand that holds cannot. We may not feel Him holding us at the moment, but He’s been there by our side. Always. 

What we feel or how we see Him at this very moment does not make Him any less near. Neither does it make Him any less God.

He is who He is and always will be—faithful, never far away, always reaching out.

The same God who was with us in our mountaintops and successes is the same God who is with us in our valleys and failures. 

He is the one who sees all the mess from within and around us and yet chose to enter into the middle of that mess to be with us.  

He is with us.

Naiintindihan Mo ba ang nangyayari sa ‘kin?

It is comforting to know that God is near even in the midst of our mess. But really, we can be near someone and yet only know them trivially. 

“Eh ano ngayon Lord kung malapit Ka? Baka nakikita Mo ang mga nangyayari sa akin, pero ‘di Mo naman gets ang nangyayari sa loob. Naiintindihan Mo ba?” 

The same psalm offers an answer as well.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

    you discern my thoughts from afar.

You search out my path and my lying down

    and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue,

    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. . . .

My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

    the days that were formed for me,

    when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139:2–4,15,16

It is clear just how much God knows each of us, trivially and personally.

Sa mga pagtulog nang 5 a.m. at paggising nang 4 p.m.,

Sa mga gusto mong sabihin ngunit ipinaubaya mo na lang sa hangin,

Mula sa araw ng ating pagsilang, hanggang sa dulo ng ating pamumuhay,

Alam Niya at andun Siya.

What you feel or how you see yourself at this moment does not make you any less of God’s child. Nor does it make you any less loved and valued by Him. 

You love to hear from experienced people how to navigate life and acads, but what about the very author of your life who knows you inside out? Would you like to hear from Him?

We can trust Him because He knows us more than we know ourselves. We can trust Him because He sees us as His very own children. And He is the BEST Father there is. 

Nearness is a gift, but intimacy is a choice. God already made the choice to be intimate with us. He’s waiting for us to choose to be intimate with Him.

How? Let’s invite God into our hearts today. 

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭139:23,24‬

“Masyadong maraming nangyayari nang sabay-sabay.” 

We may be afraid of the darkness in our lives as God searches us, but let me encourage you with this:

. . . even the darkness is not dark to you;

    the night is bright as the day,

    for darkness is as light with you.

Psalm 139:12

‘Yung kadiliman sa kalooban mo, sa loob ng bahay mo, at sa mundo, mawawala ‘yan sa presensya Niyang nagsisilbing liwanag sa dilim.

Because of that, you are no less empowered to be a world-changer than before this pandemic. Carry on.