Devotional Thought of the day:

I saw the Lord ever before me;
because He is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart was glad,
and my tongue rejoiced.
Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope, Acts 2:25-26 HCSB

364    Ah, if you would only resolve to serve God seriously, with the same earnestness that you put into serving your ambitions, your vanities, your sensuality …

“God often holds back the delightful and tangible blessing so that they may look to God more keenly with eyes of faith.”  ( attributed to St John of the Cross – from a retreat handout)

You would think that pastors would remember the verse in red above. That we would realize our being shaken and troubled in life Is a warning sign, a reminder to fix our eyes (see Hebrew 12:1-3) back on Jesus, a reminder that we need to depend on Him to see us through.  That when we do, our heart is full of joy, our words praise God and we can rest…

It doesn’t work that way all too often in life.

We may even justify our ambitions, they may not be to have a mega-church, but rather simply one that is peace, that everyone who enters recognizes this place is special, that it is a place where God meets man.  A noble ambition for sure, but one that can cause us to overlook those who are severely broken. Maybe it is our vanity, saying that I can endure more than others, that I can sacrifice more than others, even taking a perverse pleasure in sacrificing our sensuality.

We can serve these things in such a way, and count ourselves as saints and martyrs because of it. 

And if we are serving our vision, our ambition, our pride, our sensuality, even if our use of it is noble or sacrificial, we take our eyes off of God.  There is then no peace.

I think that is why we can’t see, why it appears we don’t have the delightful and tangible blessings that St John of the Cross mentions.  Because we are unaware of them, we sooner or later blame God for not fulfilling His promises, and then, as we are looking at Him, we realize that maybe we had them all the time.  The lack of peace causes us to seek out the provider of that peace, that comfort, and we find ourselves with God once agan.

We need to focus our lives on Him, we have to depend on Him, for He is the source of our life, our peace.  It is not some kind of transactional thing, where God only blesses us if we stroke His ego.  It is because He promises and provides, He pours out all we need, even more than we need.  And to turn our back on Him, to allow ourselves to be distracted, means we miss out on what He provides.  When we aren’t looking at Him, we only see the things that are broken, that need to be redeemed, that need to be repaired. 

That is what David is speaking of, why Peter quoted Him,  We need to keep the Lord in sight no matter what is going on, we have to look to Him for comfort, for peace, to stabilize our lives.  Even David knew God would do all this and more, even when David was unaware of the cross.

Lord, may our hearts rejoice, as we realize You are indeed here, and may our words praise You, even as we find rest in Your presence.  Help us as well to find rest You have told us we need and provide for us, even as you draw our attention to you.  AMEN!

The questions of the day:  Who around you needs ot know God peace and comfort?  How will your help it be revealed in their lives?

Escriva, Josemaria. The Way (Kindle Locations 927-928). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.