{"id":3607,"date":"2026-02-14T20:53:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T04:53:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/?p=3607"},"modified":"2026-01-02T15:07:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T23:07:32","slug":"journals-in-taiwan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/blog\/journals-in-taiwan\/","title":{"rendered":"Journals in Taiwan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lillian Hsiao<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This is a collection of some thoughts and prayers from my semester in Taiwan. During that time, I had a lot of time to think, and turning to writing helped me process and document my thoughts. My hope is that some of this might be relatable or encouraging to anyone who might read it.<\/p>\n

The dates shown here are approximate, but still represent the chronological order of the reflections.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Auntie\u2019s Wisdom,\u00a0April 2, 2025<\/i><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As my heart aches for the lost,<\/p>\n

    may I stop tugging God along,<\/p>\n

    demanding that I see \u201cprogress\u201d according to my own timeline.<\/p>\n

    Instead, may I join God in the work that He is already doing,<\/p>\n

    and praise Him for promises that are yet to be fulfilled.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. The Unchanging One,\u00a0April 2, 2025<\/i><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Being by myself in a new country\u00a0is really lonely sometimes.<\/p>\n

      For awhile I was lost,\u00a0feeling like everything and everyone I knew\u00a0was far far away.<\/p>\n

      Then I realized that the one thing that has not changed is the God by my side. My relationship with Him transcends oceans and time zones;<\/p>\n

      He is with me in uncharted waters. When no one else knows me, when there are no roles I have to fill, or expectations for me to meet,<\/p>\n

      He whispers to me, \u201cYou are still my daughter; you never had any expectations to meet with Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Man of Sorrows,\u00a0April 8, 2025<\/i><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        I\u2019ve been arguing with God\u00a0Lord, where is your love for these people?<\/p>\n

        Can you show me that you mean it when you say you love the world?\u00a0And desire that all come to you?<\/p>\n

        One Sunday the pastor says during his sermon, \u201cWe are never lonely. The only one who was truly ever lonely was Jesus, when he took all our sins on that cross.\u201d Wow. God never ever ever forsakes us. Yet He forsook his Son. The One who had the closest relationship with the Father, the One who lived out full obedience to the Father, He was the One who experienced the full rejection of the Father,\u00a0\u00a0crying out \u201cEli, Eli, lama sabachthani?\u201d as He bore the weight of all our sin. Is that not the greatest love? That the Most Perfect would suffer in the most painful way for the imperfect? That the Most Righteous would come down to earth Himself to seek and save the lost? That I will never know true loneliness, because the Man of sorrows endured true loneliness for me?\u201c He was despised and rejected by men,\u00a0\u00a0a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;\u00a0\u00a0and as One from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.<\/p>\n

        Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;\u00a0yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 Isaiah 53:3-4<\/p>\n

        \u201cGreater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 John 15:13<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Peace,\u00a0April 20, 2025<\/i><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          I talked to someone at church yesterday. He is young, recently engaged, leading and planning different ministries for the summer, and last week suddenly was diagnosed with cancer. \u201cAre you nervous?\u201d I ask him. \u201cActually, no\u201d he says. Sometimes people can say that and fake it, but I sensed this genuine calmness about him. \u201cI know it\u2019s all in God\u2019s hands.\u201d When I don\u2019t sense peace in my own life, when I question the goodness of God, when I doubt His all-surpassing presence, can I not look towards these people? draw strength from their assurance? How arrogant and unbelieving would I have to be to deny their inexplicable peace and say that I know better,\u00a0\u00a0that \u201csovereign God\u201d is just a coping mechanism and that their hope lives only within their own minds? Lord, destroy my arrogance. Help my unbelief.<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. \u201cYou\u201d,\u00a0April 24, 2025<\/i><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            My commutes to and from school are probably my loneliest. Sometimes the sun is shining and I\u2019m completely content, sometimes it\u2019s raining and yet my spirits are high; yet many times, I\u2019m grouchy and feeling oh, so lonely. I start complaining to God. \u201cGod, where are You in all this??\u201d I see some middle schoolers on their bikes, I see an old man smoking on the side of the street, a \u8001\u95c6\u5a18 takes an order for fresh dumplings. God, where are You in all of these people\u2019s lives? These thoughts cloud my mind and I spiral even further into thinking God is distant, that surely He is not wholly good if so many people in the world do not know Him, will not choose Him. On one particularly low walk home I say out loud, \u201cJesus, where are You in all this?\u201d even waving my hands at \u201call this\u201d in exasperation. Even before I finish that thought, another thought rings loud and clear<\/p>\n

            \u201cYou are supposed to be in all this.\u201d I pause, surprised because that thought has never occurred to me before, surprised because the \u201cYou\u201d made such a strong impression. Kinda like the thought was not a voice that I heard, but a feeling that I felt, and that \u201cyou\u201d was like something pressing on my heart. And I immediately understood what that thought meant. I\u2014or all of God\u2019s people\u2014 am to be God\u2019s tangible presence in this world.<\/p>\n

            Acts 1:8<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

            2 Corinthians 5:17-20<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Mercies: new every morn\u2019,\u00a0May 15, 2025<\/i><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Lord, thank you that in my darkest moments of questioning you, you gave me enough to hold on to for that day. When it was questioning if you existed, if everything I \u201cknew\u201d about you was a lie, you sent Cara to tap me on the shoulder just as I was about to stand up, and she asked to pray for me. Little did we know that she had gone through an extremely similar situation before. That was enough for me to hold on and turn to your Word in my doubt. When it was questioning if you were good, if you truly cared about the people of this world, I asked Joy, \u201cWhere is God? How is He working in the lives of all these people?\u201d We got up after dinner and a new acquaintance of Joy walks up to us and says, \u201cJoy, you go to church right? I want to go to church with you.\u201d After this, you reminded me from Josh\u2019s sermon that it is not that you do not show yourself to us, it\u2019s that you\u2019ve already given us your word, revealed to us your will, but we choose to not listen.<\/p>\n

              I am deciding to humble my heart before You, to recognize that Lord, the earth is just a footstool for Your feet.<\/p>\n

              I am deciding to obey You, strive to glorify You in all I do, trusting that You are working.<\/p>\n

              I offer my life to You to be used by You, Lord. And I don\u2019t need to see the fruits, the \u201cmiracles\u201d, to obey.<\/p>\n

              I trust that You are working.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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