In order to understand God's Will, we must first understand who we are, what motivates us, what is at the centre of our intentions and who do we focus on the most?
For before we can understand God's Will, we must recognise our own will in order to be able to differentiate the two. In that at times, our prayer is not so much about relationship, but, more about manipulation.
We can at times think too highly of ourselves and believe that we alone can achieve great deeds, also that we alone are heroically brave, yet when faced with opposition we usually either attack back, or we submit to whoever seems stronger.
In order to build a healthy relationship with God, we must learn to accredit to God what is His and His alone, and that is every good thought and every good deed we do, it is from the indwelling Spirit of Truth.
Everything good is from God, every good thought is from God, and every good and beneficial deed we do for the relief of another is also from God. When we feel a need to become closer to our Lord that is an inspiration from God, to spend time in prayer so that He can strengthen us. For God knows that every bad thought, every unkind deed and every bad intention is from us.
And this is the understanding that we lack, for not every bad deed we do can be blamed on the Devil, for at times God Himself will place obstacles in our path, not to break us but to strengthen that which is weakest in our nature.
One only needs to read the book of Job to understand that it is sometimes through adversity that God works the greatest within the confines of the soul. For our mind is NOT God's mind nor our ways His Way, they are separate indeed, but it is when we think we can speak 'for' God that we find ourselves judging others. For God has no need of mere creatures to speak when He sent His Son and through Him we have The Word of God, and we also have the Church to help illuminate our spirit as to the Will of God.
It no longer suffices to say that we do not know God's Will, indeed any Christian should know the Will of the Father, which is expressed by The Son in the Word and through the Church. So to be in ignorance of Scripture is to be in ignorance of God, to paraphrase St. Jerome.
This is a very sorry excuse indeed, for if we do not know the Word how then can we differentiate between our will and God's Will? Would we not become like confused sheep never knowing nor following our Shepherd?
In order to know our self we need to strip away our artifaces and to understand that in and of ourselves we are nothing. That without God at the centre of our lives, we will then make our ego the sole and central focus of our existence. Which will lead us on a path of self gratification and self absorption as we make ourselves the centre of attraction and lose our focus on God.
In order to know oneself we must study Scripture and also the Teaching of The Church and take as our example our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and our Blessed Mother, as well as the Saints who have gone before us.
This is not a case of comparing, but of evaluating what we lack and then to question why? Once we have asked that question we also need to examine within our own hearts and with ruthless honesty, how far we fall short of what The Bible instructs and exhorts us to become.
For we cannot know God till we know ourselves, but God knows us inside out. So pray to Him for His guidance and through the study of Scripture, The Traditions of our Faith and the examples of those who went before us, then we can glimpse a pale vision of the Glory of God and the pruning needed to be done within our own souls.
For a mind that is absent of God is a soul that is absent of Love.
Peace of Christ to you ALL
Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment