Reading Signs of Our Need for God

In today’s first reading, Ephesians 4: 1-6, Paul addresses us from his prison cell, urging us “to live in a manner worthy of the call” we have received, “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another [and ourselves] through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit though the bond of peace….”  Sometimes the most difficult person toward whom to be patient and gentle is ourselves. We make good intentions and break them. We pledge to do better and break that pledge. We get up in the morning determined to accomplish far more than we may be capable to accomplish  that day and, sure enough, the physical energy or emotional stamina is lacking.  We promised to not be obnoxious or demanding or controlling and, guess what, we are obnoxious, demanding and controlling when we do not want to be. Or we desire to be assertive and to stand up for ourselves and we slide right into being submissive and demeaning of self when we need to be strong on our own behalf. 

The challenge? To realize that our weaknesses are God’s strength, that our failings are a reminder of our dependence upon God, and that, when our fallen nature raises its head, we are to remember that God’s grace is sufficient for us. God, in fact, uses all of the circumstances of our lives to bring us salvation.

May we be graced to read human nature in the light of how God sees us and may we become as proficient in reading human nature as we are in reading the conditions of the weather.  As Jesus says to us in today’s Gospel, Luke 12: 54-59:  “When you see a cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain—and it does,”  so when you see how weak and fickle you can be, may you say immediately: “My weakness, O Lord, is your strength!  I need your help, O Lord!”