My calendar saying, “What does God expect of us? To expect great things of Him,” calls
to me to pray for wisdom and strength through all caretaking challenges, as I trust the path to
God’s love and mercy. There are times to acknowledge that the situation is out of one’s
control, surrender it to the Lord and wait to see how God will help. The key is remaining
persistent in prayer, trusting God can bring good out of any situation.
Richard J. Foster encourages us with these words “Even when all we see are the tangled
threads on the backside of life’s tapestry, we know that God is good and is out to do us good
always.” Can we look at life through a different lens? Do we see from a perspective of scarcity
or sufficiency? Scarcity, a mindset, an unconscious, unexamined set of assumptions of ‘not
enough.’ While sufficiency is a place of wholeness and completeness and deep understanding
of who we are. Which description do we most identify with?
In order to survive our challenges, we need to feed our inner lives. Instead of thinking
what is wrong with me, purposely think – what are my gifts and strengths? Latch onto the good
within! How are you showing up for yourself? Do you give and receive mercy? Do you
acknowledge feelings that pass through you? With awareness can come the choice whether to
question, confront, repair, ignore or whatever. Be aware of things that trigger you, giving
yourself time to sort out how you feel. Feelings unexpressed remain inside.
Feeling stuck is scary, but if you believe that you are not alone in the difficulty, you can
trust that God is there accompanying you and helping you face the tasks at hand. His mercy
carries and encourages us to give mercy and self-compassion to ourselves. If we are
preoccupied with our own failings, we cannot hear God’s reassurance that we are forgiven.
With every prayer we are getting closer to our heavenly Father and learning to rely on Him.
Another calendar saying, “Why should we pray? Because God listens.” I know I need to
improve in this area, do you?
Father Michael Casey, Cistercian Monk in Australia, gives us food for thought, “Knowing
God’s goodness, we must stare down our fear, allow our agitated thoughts to settle and
placidly expose ourselves to the mystery that has come upon us.” With all our needs, let us
focus our full attention on the goodness and greatness of God. Our need is small compared to
God’s ability to meet it. We are accepted and loved as we are. We take our inspiration from the
words of John 8:12, Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever
follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
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