Second Armor: Trust
Mark 4:5-6 says, "Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots."
Nena (not her real name) had a happy and fulfilled life. Her husband has a decent-paying job. They have young children who they can afford to send to good schools. They have their own house through mortage payments which they can afford. She has a good relationship with God as she always go to Sunday mass and pray to God.
And then there was an avalanche of events that shook her faith. Her husband suddenly died and with him goes their stable source of income. Their children, as a result, needed to stop going to their present school and opted to study in their province where the school is considerably cheaper. They lost their house and she found herself working as a house-help just to support her children who lives far away from her care.
She was hurt and felt abandoned by God. She was angry to God and so she turned cold towards Him. Since then, she has never set foot in any Church because she no longer trust God to take care of her and her family.
But did God really change from the time that her life is complete and now that her life has become difficult? Did He "abandon" her just for the sake of abandoning her without any divine purpose behind it all? And does her present situation really merits the complete distrust in God's loving, though mysterious (and sometimes painful) ways?
As Christians, we ought to be deeply grateful for the book of Job in the bible that gives us reason to trust God despite the intense sufferings we may have or presently experiencing.
Job, an Old Testament righteous character who literally lost everything, struggled and nearly his life to death, but did not lost sight of the single most important person in his life - his God. He wept, he mourned, he wailed, he cursed and cry out loud in anguish and pain but he never lost his relationship with His God. And that time when his heart was crushed into bits and tiny pieces, he let God pick up those tiny bits of pieces and mould it back to His image.
Fr. William Most, in analyzing the book of Job, has offered 3 basic theological reasons why people suffer.
1. To clean us - The Holiness of our Father wants His children clean enough to enter His house. Some sin so gravely as to even lose divine sonship. Others do not lose it,but become dirty children,who need a cleanup.
"The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him." - Romans 8:16-17
2. To discipline us - Just as a really good Father trains His children by discipline to make them grow up and be what they should be,so our Father in heaven,disciplines us for the same purpose.
"The discipline of the LORD, my son, disdain not; spurn not his reproof, For whom the LORD loves he reproves, and he chastises the son he favors." - Proverbs 3:11-12
3. To let us share in God's salvific works - If we really love our Father, we will want to see that He gets the pleasure of giving to all those whom He wants to be His children. But some of them have even forfeited that position, while others are somewhat soiled. In either case, in order that He may be able to give His favors to them, they need to be open. But many of them do little or nothing towards rebalancing the scales for their own sins. So that they may be put in the condition to receive,we can by taking on difficult things, make up for them.This is love for them - it is also love of the Father,for it gives Him the opening to give to them, while at the same time it gives them the openness they need to receive.
"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church," - Colossians 1:24
When trials and tribulations around us are too powerful and strong to distract us from praying and being in union with God, let us always remember that trusting God is the only choice for us. Jesus asked His apostles if they want to leave Him after he declared that His body and blood to be the eaten to live forever (not one apostle or scholar or anybody understood His meaning at that time) if they also want to leave Him, St. Peter's declaration of trust "Master, to whom shall we go. You have the words of eternal life." This, too, should be our strongest belief when praying.
So when we pray, pray with complete trust in the Lord that He will bless us with what is best for our spiritual growth and our eventual salvation.
to be continued....Third Armor: Perseverance
