Mt 7:7-12 Everyone Who Asks, Receives!Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened.
Bear with me for a moment. Is Christ the solution to all our problems or is Christ the cause of all our problems? He allows his children to go off and play and scrape their knees. He allows them to wander alone in the forest and get lost. Christ is not the solution to our problems; he is the cause of our problems! Our problems are his making and our opportunities; His teaching and our education.
A while back an 11-year-old autistic girl, Nadia Bloom, wandered off into the gator infested swamps of Florida and got lost. She had been missing for five days until a Church pastor discovered her, covered in mosquito bites. It was a miracle. We know it was a miracle because the pastor, part of the rescue team, had decided to go out early in the morning and search for the little girl on his own. He said he kept hearing a voice inside him telling him which direction to turn and where to go. The voice must have come from above because he found her! Why does the Lord allow us to get lost? Why does the Lord allow us to suffer pain and misery? Is he not the cause of all our problems? Yes, he is. But he is also the solution to our biggest problems: Sin, death and Hell.
Jesus tells us that we have a direct line to him. Whether we see it or not, we don’t really struggle with our problems, our fears, our lives, our friends, or our families. The struggle is really with Him! There is something more profound with this Gospel passage than meets the eye. “Ask and you shall receive”. Christ is much more than a means to an end. “Seek and you shall find.” He is more than a map maker. “Knock and the door shall be opened.” Jesus is more than a secret knock that unlocks a mysterious door. Christ is more than all these things. He is more than a means to an end. He is the end of my life. He is the rope at the end of my life, and when he yanks on it, I move – regardless of if I like it or not.
Allow Christ to be at the end of your rope. Allow him to yank it towards Him. Otherwise, you will look for something less sturdy like a tree and end up swinging like Judas! Christ will always lift you up! Judas had to be pulled down.
The Lord gives us problems so that we will ask, seek and knock. Let us ask the Lord to give us the strength and courage to give what He wants and to take what He gives.
Only Jesus can take a problem and turn it into a blessing.
Only Jesus can take the cross, a symbol of hatred, evil, torture and death and turn it into the symbol of faith, hope, perseverance, dedication, sacrifice and love.
Only Christ can take my life and have it be loved by another.
Only Christ can turn night into day, mourning into morning, and sin into grace.
Only Christ can take a horrible Friday and make it “Good” Friday.
On Monday we admitted my son to the hospital for terrible headaches that we could not control. We hoped it would just be an overnight stay; that has not been the case.
ReplyDeleteNot being able to alleviate my son's suffering breaks my heart and causes me anguish. And the Lord has heard my cries.
Through this trial we have been blessed immensely. We have had a wonderful staff caring for my son. A local parish brings Communion to those hospitalized every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, so we have been nourished spiritually and we have been showered with prayers from family and friends.
We had a breakthrough last night, no terrible headache!! We are full of hope and rest in the Lord's embrace.
This certainly wasn't the way my son wanted to spend his spring break but he has been amazing and has accepted this trial with grace.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
"Is he not the cause of all our problems? Yes, he is. But he is also the solution to our biggest problems: Sin, death and Hell."
ReplyDeleteI think the problem IS the solution.
Without the problem most of us would not ask, seek or knock.
"The Lord gives us problems so that we will ask, seek and knock. Let us ask the Lord to give us the strength and courage to give what He wants and to take what He gives."
ReplyDeleteMy mother died 18 months ago and there have been a couple of things I have struggled with. She died of cancer and her last 10 days on this earth were filled with terrible pain that we were not able to control.
There were times I was so angry at God for allowing her to suffer so much. I remember being at Mass the Sunday before she died telling God, "If your are all powerful then stop her suffering now!"
Later, I felt terrible for saying these things to God and being angry at Him. I felt like the soldiers at the foot of the Cross telling Jesus, "If you are King of the Jews, save yourself" (Luke 23:37).
The other thing I desperately wanted was for my mother to come to me in a dream or to feel her presence so I would know that she was fine and with my siblings in heaven.
On March 1st and 2nd I attended a conference at St. Monica's on End of Life Issues. The first evening Bishop Seitz talked about the role of the Church and what gifts it has to offer the sick and dying. He also talked about the role of suffering.
He quoted 2 Corinthians 4:17, "For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison."
As he was reading this passage I felt my mom's presence for the first time since she died. And she said to me, "Kelly, it is true! The suffering I endured was a drop, a tiny drop, compared to the glory I am experiencing now."
This miracle was two-fold. I finally felt my mom's presence and God freed me from the anguish I felt about her suffering and wishing there was more I could have done to alleviate her pain.
God always gives us the strength to endure whatever we are faced with, we just have to be open to His grace.
Kelly,
ReplyDeleteAs I read your comment, I was thinking about the times I've watched helplessly while someone I love suffered, especially at the end of their life. There have been times that just thinking of how this suffering may very well be what expedites their assent into heaven, has given me peace when there was nothing I could do but pray.
My father was a very mean man. We had to put him in a nursing home when my mom couldn't take care of him any longer. When we put him in he was so angry and hateful, full of rage (normal for him). After 8 months and 4 different homes, he died at peace. This may have been the only time I ever say him at peace. As I looked back over those 8 months, I can honestly say that I believe the suffering he endured may have saved his soul. Had he died 8 months before, I don't think I would have felt peace about it.
Months after he died, I had a dream, where he came to me and said, "I'm going home".
I do believe in the value of pain in this world and how minuscule it is when compared to the glory of heaven.
Thank you for reminding us that there is a purpose for all that we suffer here on earth.
I had forgotten all about this until I read your comment. I was a good memory.