I can rely on the power of God rather than my own weakness…
The other day I was watching a short interview that was given by Saint Josemaria and it started me in thinking…
Saint Josemaria was born in 1902 in Spain and became a priest and then the founder and first Prelate of Opus Dei, which he served until his death in 1975.
And in this interview, the Saint was speaking about prayer. And he said in the interview that he very rarely ever – if at all – felt like praying. He did not pray because it felt good. He prayed because it was a choice he made in sacrifice to God.
And when I reflect on that sacrifice and on that feeling, it occurs to me that there is something very powerful about prayer and about being able to commit to prayer.
Very little about the practice of my faith comes down to feelings. It does not feel good to have to do the right thing. It does not feel good to have to avoid temptation to sin. It does not feel good to have to commit to God above all else. The feelings – fleeting as they are – can be better satisfied (in the short term at least) by the wrong choices. For example, when I am angry, my feelings in the short term, can be appeased by my use of angry words and deeds. When I am tired, my feelings in the short term, can be appeased by my decision to snap at people around me as a way to release my frustrations. When I am hurt, my feelings in the short term, can be appeased by my decision to act-out and behave in an uncharitable manner to the person who hurt me.
And I have been thinking about that today. You see, nowhere in the Bible does God coddle His people. When God told Moses to speak to Pharaoh, Moses told God that he could not do that because he stuttered. God’s reply was basically, go anyway… I am with you. When God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, Jonah responded that he could not go because of the dangers in facing those people. God’s reply was basically, go anyway… I am with you.
And when I say to God it is too hard or too much or I am too tired or I cannot, God’s reply to me is basically, do it anyway… I am with you.
I suppose there really is a reason why we call Him YAWEH… Because in every situation I AM with you… And when I think about that today, and I understand that I can rely on the power of God rather than my own weakness… Well, that is when I realise that I am blessed beyond my ken.
For if only I could understand in my small and insignificant mind, the true power of my Beloved I really would never be afraid again… For my God goes with me – wherever I go – and knowing that, I know that I am safe. Because it is Him who works through my miserable weakness, and not me. And knowing that, I know that nothing could ever possibly be wrong.
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.