Trusting in the Lord

Trust is the theme of both readings, Genesis 8: 6-13, 20-22 and Mark 8: 22-26.   In the first reading, Noah has just come through the forty days of rain and is waiting for the waters to subside.  He and his family were the only human beings spared the loss of life during the torrential downpours for the past forty days.  In the Gospel reading, Jesus takes a blind man aside, touches his eyes twice, the first time the man does not see clearly:  "I see people looking like trees and walking," he tells Jesus. After Jesus touches his eyes a second time, the man sees perfectly.

What would I have done had I been in Noah's situation? When the waters subside, Noah and his family are faced with starting all over again, trusting God as they proceeds to rebuild their lives. The same is true of the blind man. His life is totally changed having put his faith in Jesus. Many times, you and I are faced with needing to start over again, rebuilding our trust in the Lord after some disaster, personal, familial, or otherwise.  Jesus takes us by the hand, as he did the blind man, and leads us forward. We are not always sure of where Jesus is leading us or how he is guiding us.  Sometimes we may wonder if Jesus is even aware of the challenges we face on a given day or the drama we may have just waded through and that prompts us to ask: "Where are you, Jesus?" or "Jesus, do you care that my 'boat' is being tossed about by the turbulent waves of life?" Or we may say to Jesus: "Lord, I feel like I am drowning! I don't know how to move forward!"

Help me, Jesus, trust in you!  Help me see clearly as you lead me through the turbulent waters of life!

God Redirects Saul's Life and Ours

Saul, a zealous Jew, was on a mission to arrest Christians, men and women the Jews believed were traitors to their Jewish faith.  God saw his zeal, his determination, his commitment to his Jewish faith.   It was like god said to Himself: "I need that man to spread the Word about who My Son truly is, to proclaim the death and resurrection of My Son Jesus.  Saul was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians when Jesus stopped him: "Saul, Saul, why are go persecuting me?"  The bright light knocked Saul to the ground. Saul responds to the voice of Jesus, asking: "Who are you, Sir?"  "I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting." "What am I to do, Sir?"  "Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything appointed for you to do."  Blinded by the light, he needed to be led into Damascus. There God had arranged for a committed Christian to reveal God's will to him.

Notice how Jesus gets Saul to reflect upon his actions, leads him to where he needs to go and gives him the instructions he need to change the course of his life and come on board with Jesus.  Jesus does the same for for you and me!  He does not come to condemn when He finds us off track.  He uses people ad events to redirect us, as He did for Saul. He saves us from choices that are contrary to the will of God for us.

God knows you and me through and through, as He knew Saul.  He has a mission for us to fulfill in building up God's Kingdom and spread the Good News of our redemption, to bring hope to those who are hopeless and faith to the despairing by introducing them to Jesus and His Way of Life, the Gospels.

To know God's mission for us, we need to take time to sit at Jesus' feet,  especially when we know that we are off track.  Especially at those times, we need to come to Jesus, listen to His voice, and be open for His instructions. I had to do that tonight when I ranted and raved about a meeting that was called and that I felt interfered with what I wanted to accomplish tonight. In the solitude of prayer, Jesus asked me: "Why were you against that meeting?"  My response: "I was afraid that I would not get my hour of prayer in."  Jesus' response to me:  "My desire for you is that you do my will, not yours. And my will is that you co-operate with those who have the authority to call a meeting."  Jesus did not condemn me but he definitely redirected me!  Like Saul, I need to be redirected from time to time.  What about you?

Being Guided to the Everlasting Way

In today's liturgy, Psalm 139, reminds us that the Lord "formed...[our] inmost being; ...knit...[us]  in ...[our] mother's womb."Image an expert knitter at work knitting a masterpiece, a work of art that will elicit people's praise. "Wow, how beautiful," we say when we see someone's knitted sweater with exquisite colors and designs.  I encourage you to transfer that human experience to watching God knit a child in its mother's womb.  Every mother and father stand in awe as the Creator of their child is at work during the nine months of pregnancy. 

Faith in God prompts the psalmist to go on further and say to God: "Probe me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; see if my way is crooked, and lead me in the way of old."  I feel less confident until I get to "lead me."  If my way is crooked, God, lead me out of the crookedness. Put me on a straight path, a path that leads directly to you.

I encourage you to open the Bible to the psalms and reflect on all of psalm 139. See what part of that psalm touches you deeply and talk to God about it.