I know going from life to full surrender, that is FIAT isn’t easy. This leap takes a huge amount of faith, right?
“For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20
Faith begins at the edge of understanding. Our Lord tells us that it only takes ‘Faith the size of a mustard seed’ to make the miraculous occur. He was moving mountains with this small, pure faith. So, imagine how much easier it is to take one single step. We’ve been doing this since we were a year old.
Remember back, using a table for balance, you’ve managed to stand. You see the sofa just 2 feet away. That two feet looks like a mighty chasm from this view point. Oh, but you want so badly to get to the sofa, so you turn, set you focus on the goal and step out. A wobble left, right and back and you take that step. Now, you have nothing holding you and all your vision is on the sofa. With arms stretched forward, another step and success!!! Then, in your excitement, you’re suddenly on your backside. Oops. Let’s go again. You grin and climb up to the sofa, looking back to the take with a gleam in your eye.
This is a strange parable but I think it relates very well to our faith journey and ultimate surrender and victory.
We stand at a precipice. The distance between us and Jesus seems frightfully huge – the Grand Canyon is small in comparison. But, on the other side, we see our goal, Jesus. There is no greater desire in any soul then to reach the Father. So, we lock our eyes upon Jesus and without looking down to the chasm or around at the distance, we let go and take that first step. We throw our arms out to stretch for the goal – Jesus’ smile fills our hearts with indescribable joy. We take another step and another – oh no…we fall! Sin trips us up and we’re on our backside. But, we see Jesus looking at is with eyes of Mercy, we go to the Sacrament of Confession and get back up. Strengthened and energized, we lock our eyes on Jesus and take another step.
St. Therese of Lisieux tells us to be like little children. Throw your arms up in the air and the Father will grab your hands and lift you up to His lap. There are times when He doesn’t readily grab hold, but He is always close and ready to catch us. Think of the image of the father running behind his son as he takes to first solo peddles to riding his bike. The son looks to the father to hold on, yet the father knows it is best to let his son find his balance. No worries, his hand is hovering just behind the seat.
There is no greater desire in our Heavenly Father’s Heart then to have us reach Heaven and stand at His side. He knows the chasm is too much for us. So, He sent His Son to close the gap with the cross. Then, He helps us learn and grow stronger as we walk our Road of Faith. He wants us to keep our focus fully upon His Son and before we know it, we are out of the boat and “walking on the ocean.”
So, what if you just let go and took that one step? One step leads to the next and to surrender. If you fall along the way, get back up and press forward. I don’t know how to surrender – remember, faith begins at the edge of understanding.
“In a single moment, I will bring you to know more than others will acquire through many years of toil” Divine Mercy in my soul # 1147