Did You Hear the Reminder From God?

[PureInsight.org] A Christmas Carol is one of my favorite books. The first time I read it, I finished reading it without taking a break and it put me into a very pleasant state. The story is about a greedy, unkind, old businessman named Scrooge. His only purpose in life was making money. He did not have friends or happiness. No matter how much money he made, he never felt it was enough. He lived alone by himself, but God cared about him and he had a dream that changed him completely.

In his dream, he saw his old friend, whose personality was similar to his, suffering in Hell. His friend hinted to Scrooge that he would see three ghosts, who would show him his past, his present, and his future. Looking from outside of his current world, Scrooge discovered for the first time how happy he was in the past when he was simple and kind, in contrast with how miserable he was now facing the temptations of money. He was also shown how sad he would be in the future because he would die by himself and no one would come to mourn him. He underwent a deep self-examination in his mind and decided to choose a kind and bright life.

In the journey with Scrooge, I was examining myself like him: recalling my past, thinking of the present and looking forward to the future. Some people might say that Scrooge was lucky because God let him see his past, present and future. But what I want to say is that God is fair to everyone. For Scrooge, although he had a dream, the key was how he chose to live his life. He could just have regarded the dream as a normal one and continued leading his life like before.

On the contrary, if we look at ourselves, didn't God give us such opportunities, too? When we are too tired and fall into illness, it means that God is reminding us not to work too hard and that we should take care of ourselves. When friends reject our calls for help, God reminds us to mind our friendships like delicate flowers. When our families are complaining about us, God tells us that we have ignored our families too long. When our children are disobedient and misbehave, God reminds us that we should examine ourselves, whether we behave in appropriate ways or are serving as bad examples to our children.

In the face of these many reminders from God, do we search for the cause within ourselves or put the blame outside? Becoming ill is because of the weather. Friends don't help because of their indifference. Complaints from the family are due to their ignorance. Disobedient children must have bad friends outside the family. In fact, God is fair to everyone. The key is how to make the choice when there is a reminder from God. Sometimes the reminder is not obvious, since they exist everywhere. Sometimes it might be about a minor thing, sometimes it might be about a major thing, even related to social problems.

I believe that no one will miss out on God's care if one always has a kind heart and doesn’t forget introspection. Something might already have happened in your life and God is waiting for your choices, expecting you to choose kindness, sincerity, tolerance and fairness. Did you hear the reminder from God?

Translated from:
http://www.xinsheng.net/xs/articles/gb/2007/12/7/42003.htm