Extracted and modified from Sister Ann Shield’s article in RM Website 2022
These are very challenging times. Perhaps they’re orchestrated by the Lord to bring us to a place where we can really hear His Word. By this, I mean for us to have a relationship with Him and love Him.
God wants to encourage you, especially at this time when everyone is confused and bewildered and wondering what’s next on the list. We are all asking, “What will get worse, and is anything going to get better?”
We all have these kinds of thoughts. What we want to do with these thoughts is to take them to the Lord and say, “Lord, I want to draw closer to you. I want to belong to you. Help me. Help me sit quietly with You every day, even if for just a few moments.” Ask Him to help you.
God sees you 24/7. God sees you. He knows what you are doing. He wants to relate to you. Each of us has a slightly different relationship with God. We each have different gifts and different abilities, but He wants a relationship with each of us.
Cardinal Robert Sarah from Africa writes: “It is important to give individuals the opportunity for the experience of close encounters with Christ. Without such a heart-to-heart conversation, we are fooling ourselves if we think that people will follow the Son of God in the long term. It reminds me of a saying of the Desert Fathers that left a deep impression on me during my Biblical studies in Jerusalem.
Translated from Coptic, it expresses the importance of the indispensable interior life in being a Christian: ‘One monk met another and asked him, ‘Why do so many abandon the monastic life?’ ‘Why?’ the other monk replied. ‘Monastic life is like a dog chasing a rabbit. It runs after the rabbit, barking. Many other dogs, hearing the bark, join in, and they all run together after the rabbit. But after a while, all the dogs that run without seeing the rabbit wonder, ‘Where are we going? Why are we running?’ They become tired, get lost, and stop running, one after the other. Only the dogs that see the rabbit continue to pursue it to the end until they catch it.’ “And the moral of that little story is this; only those whose eyes are fixed on the person of Christ on the cross persevere to the end.”
In the morning, give Him at least some moments before you go to work. Offer your day to Him. Ask Him to help you. At the end of the day, take some time to thank God. Plan a time to read the Scripture passages of the day, ponder them, and ask, “How do they apply to me?” You may say, “I don’t have time,” but something is not in the right order if you don’t have time for God.
Shields, S. A. (2022, June 14). Give god time. Renewal Ministries. https://www.renewalministries.net/give-god-time/
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