Inspiring Stories: Leah
November 2020
Leah was one of the participants in the online Kairos course that the SM Philippines team ran earlier this year. Here is her story:
Hi, I’m Leah, from the Philippines. I am a graduate of theatre arts and have worked in theatre for seven years.
Before I joined the Kairos course, I thought I needed to work more and please more people, particularly because I needed to be liked to secure my career in this industry. While I was proud of my work, it started to become my pain. I grew tired of pleasing others and trying to fit in; I wanted a quiet life away from all the noise of the theatre.
God heard the prayer of my heart. He gave me a day job that doesn’t require a lot of personal interaction. I worked six days a week, went to church on Sunday morning, and rested on Sunday afternoons—no more and no less in my schedule. I lived for myself alone. My life was quiet—so quiet that it began to feel wrong. My life revolved around my job, but I couldn’t fit in no matter how hard I worked.
And then the pandemic hit: God gives all of us a break; the world stops. My world became unusually quiet, and this time I felt real silence. However, during this season, God allowed me to see Him more deeply than I used to. My aunt invited me to join the online Kairos course, and I said yes, not knowing what it was about. The whole course became a bomb for me—Kairos did not just shake my old beliefs and worldview, but destroyed them.
On the other hand, it also breathed life into me. I am ashamed that I used to live my life as a Christian who desires the benefits and the blessing but doesn’t want the responsibility. I realized that if I claim to be a descendant of Abraham, I can enjoy the blessing that God gave to him and his descendants. But blessing comes with responsibility. And this blessing is not just provision, nor is it protection or position. Blessing is salvation. We are blessed to be a blessing to other people. And this same covenant of God to Abraham is Jesus’ great commission. God entrusts us to finish this work. It is in our hands.
It became more evident to me how to live my life for Him. I want to join this work that He entrusts to us to do. I want to be part of this work of Jesus. I know God will use me wherever I am right now, and I should wait for His perfect timing. I am still at my job, but with the right understanding of my purpose, and I know where and to whom I belong.
Since the course ended, I’ve enrolled in a training on how to reach an ethnic group of people. I am praying for a community where God can use me. I ask for your prayers the He may open new doors and that God may finish this works that He started in my life. And as we are blessed, may we also be a blessing to all peoples of the world. To God be the glory!