How tough it is to walk in God's ways. His is the way of love, peace and forgiveness. With the fast paced, short-fused and self-centred society that surrounds us, is it still possible to walk in God's ways? Perhaps, some of us may even question if it is practical.
Without a doubt, the way of God is beyond difficult. The most challenging of all is that He calls us to love, forgive and be at peace with everyone even towards our enemies, in the face of injustice and injury. Towards our executioner, He calls us to forgive and to beg God to forgive him who does us wrong. Towards our persecutor, He calls us to excuse and to continue to love. In the face of injustice and ill treatment, He calls us to react in and with love, and He assures us that we do not need to do bad to others just because they do it to us.
Love is always illogical. It propels a person towards doing things that seem unprofitable emotionally, financially, mentally and physically. But in it, we accumulate great spiritual wealth and reserves for us a ticket we will need to hand over to St. Peter at the gate.
God invites us to emulate Him, the Lamb of God. The Lamb who is meek and dumb, not because he is weak and limited but on the contrary, His love, mercy and forgiveness are infinite. He is infinite. And so, He need not react in finite ways like we do as humans; demanding our rights, insisting on our ways, complaining about unfair treatment or double standards, criticising an incompetent boss, etc. Though we are finite, as we rightly are, God shows us the way towards His infiniteness. He teaches us to swallow our pride and continue to choose Him, just as He allowed Himself, Son of the Living God, to be humiliated and tortured by sinful man, even till today, by us. When we walk in God's ways persistently, lovingly and humbly, our faith will be strengthened, our love for God will be deepened, God becomes more real in our lives and He becomes more personal if we allow Him to walk closely with us every step of the way. And when we grow tired, disillusioned and burnt out, He opens His arms and embraces us; He fills us with His love and gives us rest. He holds us tight and comforts us tenderly.
Matthew 11:28-30
The gentle mastery of Christ
"Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light."
God knows our every need before our lips can utter it. He knows our every pain and struggle even before our tear expresses it.
He knows our every cheer before we can burst out a hearty laugh.
He knows when we have reached our breaking point even before we fall before Him in a desperate cry.
He feels our every pain, cries with us, laughs with us, encourages us, loves us. He is with us, He lives in us, in our hearts. He is our God, a personal and intimate one, the only true and faithful Lover of us all.
Let us turn to Him in our daily struggles and pray for the graces to choose and walk in His ways always.
20 November 2010, Saturday
10.58pm
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