Marriage of Mercy and Trust

The excitement is spreading. 


Maybe it's just me, but I'm not just excited for Christmas (I'm currently listening to Christmas music), I'm also excited for the endless graces which are flowing from the heavens in abundance during this year of mercy.  But we can't hope to receive these graces unless we ask for them.  And we cannot hope to have the humility to ask for help and grace unless we put our full trust in His divine plan for us. 


But... trusting in God is scary, right?


Wrong.


Rather than being scary, trust opens you up to receive the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Trust in God's will brings freedom, joy, love, and peace.  These fruits continue to flourish the more you place your trust in God.  In fact, trust is absolutely central for personal growth in holiness.


Once you realize that Jesus just wants what is best for you (and yes, suffering is often allowed so that you may continue to rely on His divine strength and not your own, weak self), it becomes much easier to place your trust in Him.  However, this can certainly seem like a daunting task because we either don't know how to begin or are afraid that He will take things away from us. 


In response to the first fear, that we are unable to place our trust in God because it is such a BIG COMMITMENT and we are so weak/small, we need to bring Him into our daily lives!  We can only accomplish this by being faithful to daily prayer (morning offering, daily Mass, daily scripture reading, daily rosary, examination of conscience, or whatever you and a spiritual director decide is best for your current spiritual growth), offering our daily work to Him, and offering our daily sufferings for His greater glory.  Through remaining faithful in these three things - prayer, work, and suffering - we will be able to grow in trust in His divine will for us. 


In response to the second fear, that we will have to give up certain comforts, lose things/people that we love, or sacrifice passions that we have in order to achieve the greater goal of sanctity, we must remember that He is a loving Father who only wants what is best for us.  True, sometimes it seems like He is being unfair or "mean" when we lose family members, friendships, or opportunities.  However, we are only contingent, created beings and He is the Creator of the entire world.  Then, how can we, feeble, flippant creatures that we are, pretend to have a better plan for our lives than the plan that God Himself has had for us since BEFORE the beginning of time?  He has a plan, which He desires to come to fruition; who are we to deny Him?  And why would we want to deny Him when, in the end, it is the plan that will bring us the most joy?  For, His will for our lives will be the very thing that brings us into a deep, endless intimacy with Him that will be culminated in heaven. 


When we fail and do not place our entire trust in God, which will be often, we need to trust in His mercy to give us the grace to continue to rely on Him.  Thus, the relation between mercy and trust is essential for our spiritual growth - this should give us hope!  For, while we do have to put in the effort to offer our daily lives for Him, He will guide our futures according to His divine plan.  As St. Augustine said, "Pray as though everything depended on God, work as though everything depended on you."







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