Life can be unrewarding sometimes. We look at others and see only happiness and bliss, but if we truly knew what went on behind closed doors, we would think twice. We wonder why God would give us the life we have, not realizing that we aren’t truly following the plan that he has set out for us.
It’s very easy to see despair and not so easy to see that we are in control of much of what happens in our daily lives. Our daily decisions make all the difference in the world. For example, I get up in the morning and decide I don’t have time for my morning prayer, I’ll get to it after Mass. I have free will and that’s the decision I make. Only to find that after Mass a family has lost a loved one and I rush out to be with them. Before I know it, it’s 2 pm and time for mid-afternoon prayer. But now I’ve missed the things I hadn’t gotten to in the morning and jump right into preparing my homily, working on this article, getting petitions ready and returning calls that I missed. It’s now 6 pm and I have religious education. I have 30 minutes where I can now get in some prayer time, but instead, decide I’m going to eat something. After religious education I go to youth group and now it’s 9:15 and I’m back in the rectory. Finally I can “catch up” on my daily prayers. I sit down, open my morning prayer and read “I will be with you today as you journey in my name.” and realize I felt all alone as I walked with that family earlier. I had Jesus reaching out to me and instead decided I could tackle the day myself. I finish morning prayer and move on to mid-day prayer. “Rest in me and you will be comforted. Seek me and you will find me.” Again, Jesus reaching out and I missed it. I’ve got this, what’s next I said to my-self. Then I get to evening prayer, “ the day is long, the forces fight against you, your brothers torment you and go against you, but I am your shelter, your refuge, you shall not undergo torment or pain for I am your God, your protector.”
When we turn to scripture, prayer, or adoration, we rest our hurts and pain with God. We take comfort in Him being in control and look at the missed opportunities he presented to us each and every day. That opportunity is being united to God and allowing him to guide our day. To speak to us as we place our trust in Him.
Most of us know the story of Job to some degree. The story is presented as God using Job to try to prove to Satan that people can act from a pure heart. God “lets” Satan do all sorts of things to Job . . . some really bad stuff, with the one command that he cannot kill him. And as you can imagine . . . Job eventually comes to the end of his rope, so-to-speak. He reaches a kind of breaking point, be-coming exasperated and furious and bewildered as to why God seems to be deaf to his cries. I think we can all relate. Honestly . . . if the same things happened to me that happened to Job, I’d probably be feeling the exact same way. Or maybe even worse!
But that’s not the end of the story. The moment things begin to change for Job is the moment he embraces a particular truth, the moment he accepts something most of us are unwilling to accept. You see, Job eventually comes to realize that he will never be able to fully understand God’s ways. It’s just not possible. God is God and he is not. God is “in charge” and he is not. God made the heavens and the earth and he did not. God has wisdom and power and a sovereignty that he simply doesn’t have.
But God is always there to comfort and direct us through his Son, Jesus. Will we take the time to slow down or is it business as usual?
May each of you have a God guided week!
God bless,
Fr. Barry
It’s very easy to see despair and not so easy to see that we are in control of much of what happens in our daily lives. Our daily decisions make all the difference in the world. For example, I get up in the morning and decide I don’t have time for my morning prayer, I’ll get to it after Mass. I have free will and that’s the decision I make. Only to find that after Mass a family has lost a loved one and I rush out to be with them. Before I know it, it’s 2 pm and time for mid-afternoon prayer. But now I’ve missed the things I hadn’t gotten to in the morning and jump right into preparing my homily, working on this article, getting petitions ready and returning calls that I missed. It’s now 6 pm and I have religious education. I have 30 minutes where I can now get in some prayer time, but instead, decide I’m going to eat something. After religious education I go to youth group and now it’s 9:15 and I’m back in the rectory. Finally I can “catch up” on my daily prayers. I sit down, open my morning prayer and read “I will be with you today as you journey in my name.” and realize I felt all alone as I walked with that family earlier. I had Jesus reaching out to me and instead decided I could tackle the day myself. I finish morning prayer and move on to mid-day prayer. “Rest in me and you will be comforted. Seek me and you will find me.” Again, Jesus reaching out and I missed it. I’ve got this, what’s next I said to my-self. Then I get to evening prayer, “ the day is long, the forces fight against you, your brothers torment you and go against you, but I am your shelter, your refuge, you shall not undergo torment or pain for I am your God, your protector.”
When we turn to scripture, prayer, or adoration, we rest our hurts and pain with God. We take comfort in Him being in control and look at the missed opportunities he presented to us each and every day. That opportunity is being united to God and allowing him to guide our day. To speak to us as we place our trust in Him.
Most of us know the story of Job to some degree. The story is presented as God using Job to try to prove to Satan that people can act from a pure heart. God “lets” Satan do all sorts of things to Job . . . some really bad stuff, with the one command that he cannot kill him. And as you can imagine . . . Job eventually comes to the end of his rope, so-to-speak. He reaches a kind of breaking point, be-coming exasperated and furious and bewildered as to why God seems to be deaf to his cries. I think we can all relate. Honestly . . . if the same things happened to me that happened to Job, I’d probably be feeling the exact same way. Or maybe even worse!
But that’s not the end of the story. The moment things begin to change for Job is the moment he embraces a particular truth, the moment he accepts something most of us are unwilling to accept. You see, Job eventually comes to realize that he will never be able to fully understand God’s ways. It’s just not possible. God is God and he is not. God is “in charge” and he is not. God made the heavens and the earth and he did not. God has wisdom and power and a sovereignty that he simply doesn’t have.
But God is always there to comfort and direct us through his Son, Jesus. Will we take the time to slow down or is it business as usual?
May each of you have a God guided week!
God bless,
Fr. Barry
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