“O Lord, You who penetrate my whole being and the most secret depths of my soul, You see that I desire You alone and long only for the fulfillment of Your holy will, paying no heed to difficulties or sufferings or humiliations or to what others might think. “This firm resolution to become a saint is extremely pleasing to Me. I bless your efforts and will give you opportunities to sanctify yourself. Be watchful that you lose no opportunity that My providence offers you for sanctification.” Divine Mercy in my soul # 1360-1361
As I write this reflection, I know there is someone reading it whose Road of Faith is leading them down a dark alley. It feels like the whole world and everyone in it has a grudge against the soul, and even all of the demonic forces are lined up with free reign. It may feel this way, but having been there myself a few times, it is all within God’s Providence – that is, His Divine Will. Nothing happens that He doesn’t permit and account for.
St. Paul confirms in Romans 8:28-29, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son”. So we need to hold onto this hope and truth. Even as we read one of the more famous books of the Bible, we see that even for Satan to make any moves against Job, he first had to come to the Father to ask permission. The Father gave permissions but with strict rules.
One of my dearest brothers in Christ lost his father several years ago. He and his family stood around his father’s bed praying fervently and full of faith that a miracle would occur and he’d be healed. My brother said he knew that anyone who asks anything in the name of Jesus would see it granted (John 14:14). But, his father didn’t recover, no miracle came. This pushed him away from his faith for a time. This dark road of faith was not waste though. Many years later, my brother started pushing through the fog and has since become one of the greatest men of faith I know. He is a Bible scholar and a total man of faith and prayer. God allowed this event to occur because it has made him a stronger man of faith now. And, like Job, the Father has blessed my brother with a wife who is a great woman of faith and many other treasures that account in Heaven.
For me, you know my moments of struggle, and one thing I’ve learned through every single one, every moment I look back upon through my life, that God is present, He is protecting me and guiding me. Even more than that though, I see God sitting on His Holy Throne, full of faith in me. Faith in me! Wow! When I was lost and broken, He has faith that I will persevere and carry through to be a stronger man of faith. Just like my brother…God knows the way and has the plan to strengthen us beyond anything we ever thought possible.
When all seems dark and lost, offer two prayers to the Father – one asking Him to keep His hand upon you and guide you (He always does that so His answer is yes) and second, offer a prayer of praise.
Praise in the storm and dark night? Yes, of course. Even in the darkest night, we are being confirmed to the image of the Son of God. He was beaten, hates and spit upon, lashed, kicked and slapped and nailed to a tree to die. And, through this we see the greatest fruits of salvation history. What if we should endure our own passion?
Praise! Praise Him first and foremost! Focus in the darkest and scariest part of the storm to ONLY praise Him. This is a method of learning to sing with your souls the ultimate and sweetest praise to Jesus, “Jesus, I trust in You.” And, when we can come to that being the natural prayer of our heart, we will be a consoling breath to our Savior and our sanctification will be complete.
Don’t worry if it’s too hard now it seems even impossible, just do it and He will supply the rest through Divine Grace. And know that as I write this reflection, I am praying for you! And if you’d like focused prayer from me or our The Road of Faith community, post your request in comments or reach out directly to me.
“..we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we[d] also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Romans 3:2-5
Go to www.theroadoffaith.net and subscribe to receive these reflections and more daily in your email.