Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Proving It

I have been really slacking in my prayer life lately.  On the best of days, I get to daily Mass or pray a family Rosary, but on the worst of days (which are far too frequent) it's just morning and bedtime prayers with the kids.  

Our Pastor gave a great homily on New Year's Day that challenged us all to make some spiritual resolutions for the new year.  He said a lot of us make resolutions to eat right and exercise more, but what about our souls? 

Then what really struck a chord with me (the exercise lover) was when he compared muscle confusion in workouts (when you switch up your workout routines to constantly challenge your body to adapt) with spiritual exercises.  He said sometimes we can prefer to pray a certain way, or only make time for Mass, or attend our weekly Adoration hour and sort of fall into a rut.  But if we can add something new and challenge ourselves to grow, we can flex those spiritual muscles until we become a bulky Mother Teresa. (OK, he didn't say "bulky Mother Teresa" but seriously, how strong was she?!?!)


So I decided to try harder, and my first step is to incorporate some spiritual reading into my day.  I picked up this book the other night, and I searched for the passage about fear, because unfortunately, I am still having lots of fear and anxiety about this impending labor.  The words jumped out of the page at me:

My child, in many a trial and trouble, I come to you and ask you to believe in Me.  Put your confidence in Me, and prove that you mean it, by refusing to worry.  If your trials were not good for you, I would remove them at once.  

Do not be frightened.  Why worry about coming events?  Take care of today's problems and leave tomorrow in My hands.  Many of tomorrow's troubles are only in your imagination.

Lastly, remember that nothing can happen without My consent.  Put yourself in My care and fear nothing.

What a challenge this is: Prove that you mean it.  I've never had it put that way.  


How can we say that we love and trust someone, but then check their emails and phone logs and worry and constantly check up on them?  That's not love or trust.  

So why do I do the same with God?  I say "Jesus, I trust in You" and then I worry about everything that might go wrong that I won't be able to handle.  "It's just too much, God!" I yell,  "You know I can't handle this!"  But only He truly knows what I can and can't handle better than me, and He will give me the grace to conquer the challenges when the time comes.

And the only way I can show Him that I actually do trust Him...the only way I can prove that I believe He uses all for good...is to stop worrying about the future and be thankful for today.




11 comments:

  1. Thank you for the reminder. Very much needed. :)

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  2. Great post. I really struggled in my prayer life earlier in the Fall. I even talked to my Pastor about it. He was so sweet and kind…telling me not to get so stressed over this…that a new job outside the home would take adjustments…for my husband…for my kids…and for me. He reminded me that God was big enough and could handle it…and then when the time was right I could ease back into it.

    And Father was right. While I've still struggled a bit with rising earlier than others to get some quiet prayer/Scripture time in…I've slowly found a new rhythm to life.

    I really love your Pastor's idea of making Spiritual resolutions, though! I might have to challenge myself in this area. I love Adoration, but I do not go the extra mile to carve out time for Jesus… :(

    Hugs!

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  3. Oh Colleen, I have been thinking so much along these lines lately. In fact, I was hoping to write something soon about the sin of Pride, which relates to what you were saying. (no offense) I did find a good prayer called the Litany of Humility, which I'm going to print out and pray. It's a good one. Great post!

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  4. Such a great post! Trusting and not worrying is something I have trouble with as well. I am doing my best to give all of my burdens to God. When I find myself worrying, I immediately ask forgiveness and then repeat "I trust you, Jesus". That seems to help ease my worried mind.

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  5. This reflection was so timely for me, isn't it cool when the Holy Spirit works like that? I'm probably not the first to tell you about Fr. Jacques Phillipe and his books, but I can't recommend his book "Searching for and Maintaining Peace" enough. It's really brief, but I go through it slowly since each page is something I want to read over and over again.

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  6. Don't you just love it when the homily is made just for you? And you actually heard it?

    Beautiful.

    My goal this year is to try to see Jesus as many times as possible each week, daily Mass, Adoration, (even just short visits)....so far, it keeps me yearning for more. Hmmmmm...muscle confusion...workout done. Love that. Thanks for sharing!

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  7. Yes, Colleen. It's so true. All of it. Thank you for the inspiration.

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  8. Thank you for sharing, I needed to hear this.

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  9. So much truth in this post...I can definitely relate, Colleen. Thank you for sharing this.

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  10. This is all so true and wonderful. And I selfishly find great comfort in the fact that you are worried about labor for your 6th. I've been beyond freaking out lately for various reasons and I was reminded recently that it has nothing to do with me being "inexperienced" and only on #2 but that its um, well, labor? Yeah. So thanks for reinforcing that. Ok not the point of your post... but yes to all the prayer and muscle confusion and everything. So good.

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  11. Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

    Are not you more important than they?

    Matthew 6: 26

    I think so. :)

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