The Chaplet of Divine Mercy comes in handy for those times when we are lacking in trust.
Our God is a God of many identities. He's the ultimate Father. The greatest Companion and Fulfiller of all of our deepest desires. The Lover of our souls. He is gracious, merciful, and Love itself. Some have a skewed vision of our Lord, imagining Him as the supreme Punisher creating rigid rules for the sake of making rules. Others picture Him as Santa Claus, expecting Him to deliver everything on our "lists". Then there's the God that is fluffy, warm, and saved for church on Sunday mornings before a big brunch. The list goes on. As a person in the design field I love to imagine God as the Creator. I love picturing God in "studio" designing each and every life and its implications. But most recently, I've become acquainted with the side of God that loves surprises.
God has been surprising me all of my life, but the most recent started happening last semester. As the story always goes in my life, I was spending an exorbitant amount of time in studio. For a period of about 3 weeks leading up to final review my daily life consisted of spending whatever time I wasn't in class or eating or (barely) sleeping in studio. I got there early in the morning and didn't leave until early into the next morning only to wake up after a few hours and do it all over again. It was during this time when I started to go to daily mass regularly. I started to long for the re-centering, peaceful time I spent in the little stone chapel off campus. Then God surprised me by laying His real presence in the Eucharist on my heart like a load of bricks. He had used my time of solitude and hard work to glorify Him and I am forever grateful. He had transformed my work into a prayer, and that time in my life felt like a renewing retreat from the fast pace of reality. For the first time I knew how it felt to have a personal relationship with Jesus. How could I have missed this for so long!?
God loves to keep us guessing. I arrive at a realization thinking I have it all figured out only to realize that I'm making claims on the whole puzzle while only holding one piece. God continues to surprise me, keeping me on my toes and making certain my heart is focused on Him. This has been the case in my present life as the future stands right in front of me in all of its uncertainty. Now more than ever, God is calling me to trust Him, as He calls every single one of us everyday. It's hard to remember, but God knows us all better than we know ourselves, and He loves us better than we love ourselves. So why do we feel anxiety or fear creeping into the back of our minds when we have a God who wants and wills the best of the best for us?
I just need to tell this to my own heart. Courage, trust, faith, dear heart! Real life is scary. But somehow I think that means I'm doing it right. And above all, it's important to remember that God is faithful, and His love and mercy are infinite even if we cannot see it with our humanly vision. We can trust in Him and all of His surprises.
Jesus, I trust in you!
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