Far be it from me to want to jinx the luck of my Carolina Blue Tar Heels in the National Championship game this weekend, and certainly a life of faith in God is completely incompatible with belief in superstition, so I am going to risk it all by sharing with you what I am thinking about today:
What happens when you are in the heat of pursuing your dreams, excited, and almost certain that what you are reaching for is also what God wants for you...
....and then somehow, someway, the unthinkable happens and you suddenly fall short of your goal, you get passed over for that school you hoped to be accepted by, you broke up with your boyfriend, you didn't get that job you applied for and thought would be a perfect fit for you....
... or like happened with our pup Evie on her first Christmas a few months ago: you saw the big, beautiful evergreen tree going up in your home, you felt excited to see and smell its fresh outdoorsy scent, you felt certain that it was God's will that you investigate and see if you could help in setting it up...
And then what happens? You end up with the humiliation of having the lights wrapped around you instead of around that great big glorious tree.
What are you to think when, eager as you were, things didn't quite go your way? Where is God in that and what is He calling you to do?
Well, according to Jesus when his disciples asked him how we are to pray (and verified too by the teachings of his Saints), the greatest gift we can give to God, is to conform ourselves to His holy will:
"Our Father, Who Art in Heaven, Hallowed by Thy Name. Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done, On Earth as it is in Heaven..." (Matt 6:9-10)
And that means accepting all things, both joys and losses, celebrations and humiliations, justices and injustices as coming directly from God's Hands.
"Prosperity does not lift me up, nor adversity cast me down," reported a holy monk to his abbot when questioned about what was different about him that so many miracles were happening in his wake. "I direct all my prayers to the end that God's will may be done fully in me and by me."
"That raid that our enemies made against the monastery the other day, in which our stores were plundered, our granaries put to the torch and our cattle driven off--did not this misfortune cause you any resentment?" queried the abbot.
"No, Father," came the reply. "On the contrary, I returned thanks to God--as is my custom in such circumstances--fully persuaded that God does all things, or permits all that happens, for his glory and for our greater good; thus I am always at peace, no matter what happens." (Story recounted in St. Alphonsus Liguori's Uniformity With God's Will".)
And so for us, we should desire neither to win the big game nor to lose it, to be accepted at the best school or rejected, to get the coveted promotion or be denied it, to dive into the Christmas tree decorating party or be tied up on the sidelines...
Everything that happens to you, seemingly favorable or seemingly bad, is God's will for you and your life...and because God is all Good, His will is always the best thing for you.
And what is God's perfect will? Your salvation...an eternal home for you in heaven with him forever.
Please Lord, have mercy on us and in all things grant us Your peace!
Love,
Ronda
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