"Faith begins at a point where there is seemingly nothing to get out of it; nor is there any indication that prosperity will follow. Faith begins with a considerable doubt about one's own goodness and power".(Bishop Fulton sheen)
When times are good, its easy to love God, everything is coasting along nicely, and one considers oneself to have great faith. We live in expectation of a good God to provide everything we ask for, but at times God doesn't always give us what we ask for but what we need. And in our busy hectic world, where at times we have placed God in second place, in order to 'get ahead' or 'achieve our goals', then God may step in and cause us to re-think our priorities. At these times, when 'calamities' strike us or 'difficulties arise', our immediate reaction is to panic, then perhaps to apportion blame. When in fact God is merely helping us to set our hearts and minds on Him and Him alone!
So many times, maybe without realising it, we may be esteeming the opinion of others and relying solely on their opinion to gain a sense of self. Sometimes God will 'shake up' our 'safety zone', and what we have leaned on will no longer be there, because our Heavenly Father knows, we are building our faith on shifting sands, instead of placing our faith in the solid foundation of His Love and then to trust in His Love. And when this happens it is a very painful time, and our spirits can feel crushed, and we wonder 'where are you God'? 'Why is this happening'? And during this painful time, what we will receive from God is silence.
Why is God silent? Because He wants us to trust in Him, without the benefit of 'special feelings', our Heavenly Father is drawing us away from relying on feelings and relying on others, and instead to rely on Him alone. As Bishop Fulton Sheen says to paraphrase; 'real faith is expecting nothing, and then gaining everything!'As St Therese of Lisieux described her relationship to Jesus, she is like a ball in Jesus hands, He chooses when he wishes to 'play with this ball' and He chooses when to 'put aside this ball'.St Therese realised to never rely on 'feelings' but instead to love even unto folly (when it feels as if God has deserted us). As Jesus did us, to love us even unto death on a Cross.
What does God want us to do? To trust Him, not blindly but to trust Him knowing that He has only the best waiting for us. It would be so nice if at times we could just 'peek around the corner' & see what life may have in store for us, but that's not what trust is about. Its walking into the unknown, with courage and knowing that nothing will happen to us which God has not allowed, yes at times even harsh lessons, are a learning process. Life's little moments can be so transitory, what is important to us now, will lose its significance a week, a month or a year from now. We need to be flexible to follow where the Lord wishes to lead us, this can mean leaving behind what we thought was important, and to trust that God will guide us on straight paths.
And as we follow where the Spirit leads, we need to understand that sometimes God says no! At times our Lord needs us to spend time with Him alone, not for His sake, but for our sake. Our Lord Loves us so intensely and individually, that there is no aspect to our life that God thinks insignificant. What we may interpret as 'not doing much' may in fact be the greatest time where we have grown spiritually!
We must not become stagnant for fear of making mistakes, the greatest thing to fear is never having tried. This is also lacking in trust, for God does not lead us into temptation but when we do His Will He helps us to avoid sin, and when we fail Him, we then have the Sacraments of the Church to renew that which has been broken and once again makes us one with God. We need to embrace life for it never stands still, life is changeable, challenging and at times downright difficult!
Even though life at times can throw us a few curves we must not tremble in fear and remain in our comfort zones, for through adversity grows wisdom. We need to trust more in God, and less on ourselves and once we have prayed and placed out trust in God we then believe in ourselves, as God completes within us that which was lacking, therefore step out in Faith rather than live in a twilight world of the comfortable. When it comes to God we should always expect the unexpected.
How often do we attempt to `control our world' and in so doing trying to `control God', instead of trusting God to do what is best for each of us, in any given situation. Are we prepared or can we accept the `revolution of Love' within our souls, our very being, or are we more comfortable with the `status quo'? How many of us `ponder all things in our heart' and how many are `sleeping the sleep of unawareness'?
As we need oxygen to live so God needs love to abide in us, and in so far as we cant `see' oxygen, yet we know it exists. So it is with God, at times in our life we don't `see' Him, we don't `feel' Him, but He is ...I Am who I Am!
In each of our lives, where do we relegate God, in a `thinked' way or an `active' way, so we can say , `no longer I live, but Christ lives in me', as Meister Eckhart said, "the God who was a thinked God must become in some way an active God".
Peace of Christ to you ALL
Copyright © 2006 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.
roman catholic
Catholic Spirituality
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