Wednesday, 25 July 2012
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Trusting God for Grace
God works in secret, or so it is said. We do what we can, which in reality is probably a freely given response to grace's promptings to grow and mature in the first place. Life can at times seem to be an obstacle course with no end to it, though there may be some resting stops along the way.
Trust grows slowly for me. Yet as I age, I find it starting to blossom. My trust in God’s love for me as well as for others seems to be taking deep root. Fear and trust cannot live together; one or the other will be triumphant. Trust is a choice; fear may not be, being a reaction much of the time. Though how we respond to it is a choice or it can be.
To grow spiritually we will always find that we need to swim upstream. That is why discipline and some form of ascetical practice are needed. In fact to seek to grow in the love of God leads to a freedom that will more often than not bring with it all that we need in the discipline department. For then we will be free to love freely, truly and to keep our natural reactions based on mere selfish interest in check. It is always a struggle, but with it comes a deep inner peace and as time moves forward a constant communion with the presence of God. Our failures also help, leading to deeper self knowledge each time we get up and continue."Everything is a grace . . .
Everything is the direct effect of our Father's love, difficulties, contradictions, humiliations, all the soul's miseries, her burdens, her needs, Everything, because through them, she learns humility, realizes her weakness.
Everything is a grace, because Everything is God's gift. Whatever be the character of life or its unexpected events - to the heart that loves, all is well."- Saint Therese of Lisieux
What does grace mean to you? What are trusting God for?
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About the Author
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- From: markdohle
- Name: markdohle
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
- About Me: I am a Roman Catholic, who seeks to ever deepen my love of Jesus Christ.
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Comments (6)
this really didn't make much sense to me in the aspect of grace at all... maybe I'm dull today.
How we respond, is an answer to grace, it just deepens as we age and grow in our relationship with Christ. I believe we are free to respond and also that God's grace and love never leaves, us calling us ever forward in trust.
Peace
mark
You mentioned ascetical practice. Were you referring to prayer? I use prayer and meditation, but there's still the human factor of doubt. We know we are saved by God's grace, but our day to day transactions are very much in the human realm, and, even if they are controlled by God's grace, we can verbalize that we have "turned it over to God", but do we really always accept that? Is it natural to immediately go to that spiritual place of power in our lives and accept all that's happening?
@Pollypinks@xanga - A special time of day to pray, to swim against the current when our emotions are strong and seem to be out of control, fasting, these are ascetical practices. Dicipline and grace go togther I believe and it is when we feel the weakest is when we need the dicipline to trust and allow grace to continue to act in us. Doubt is also a part of life, but it can spur us on to deeper reflection, study etc. Failure I believe can also be very important in how we deal with it.
Peace
mark
Thanks for your reply. Growing up mormon, grace was a moot point. And when I made the move to mainstream Christianity, it took me ten years to fully grasp the concept of grace. Drove my husband nuts with questions about it, even a few arguments, as it just didn't make sense. It took a psychologist to ram it into my head. She said, "You love your children unconditionally, don't you? Well, your father in heaven loves you unconditionally, and forgives you unconditionally as well." When she brought my children into the mix, it started to gel.
@Pollypinks@xanga -
Yes, Jesus uses "Father" to get the point across. The Prodical Son and the Samaritian women at the well or two of my favorite scritpures to get that point across to me mostly. Thank you for sharing.
peace
mark