14th Sunday after Pentecost 17.8.08 Trust in God
Our Lord tells us to trust in God to provide for us. Funny that we do not do that when we otherwise claim to believe in God and are happy to believe that He has rescued other people at other times, such as Israelites from Egypt, but somehow doubt that He will rescue me at this particular time – even though even in my own personal history He has rescued me countless times before!
And then we are happy to believe that He keeps the universe running smoothly, so we do not fear, for example, that the planets would get into the wrong orbit. We have perfect confidence that the sun will rise at 6.53 tomorrow morning but doubt strongly that God will find me enough money to pay my bills, or give me courage to face a particular ordeal.
Whom are we dealing with here? When we say we believe in God we are talking about the Supreme Being who can regulate the stars and planets, and who also knows how many sparrows are airborne at any one time, and all the fears and anxieties that might be inside your head. We are fine with the stars and the sparrows but not with the personal fears.
So we just have to move along a little bit further and trust Him with the little things as well as the big ones.
Little to Him if not to us. We have a twofold problem with this. One is that our personal needs seem very big to us, whereas to someone who drives the whole universe they must appear very easy to solve.
Secondly, that we do not pay sufficient attention to Almighty God in the midst of our troubles, because we are so absorbed by them we forget to call upon Him.
This is one reason our liturgical prayer so often recalls the greatness and reliability of God. The readings from Scripture, especially the psalms recall the wonders He has done, not just as a history lesson, but because He still does great things now.
The prayers give Him thanks for what He has done, and then glide into asking Him to do some more for us now.
Strengthened communally by recalling as the Church what God has done for us, we are then more able to face our own particular personal or family needs.
It is unthinkable that God would have forgotten you, or would not make some provision for your needs. Rest with that thought and then wait to see how He will deliver you.
A few practical steps: We need to be in a cycle of prayer whereby we constantly interact with God, calling to mind past blessings, and confidently placing present needs before Him. Not to tell Him what we need (because He already knows) but to tell ourselves that we need His help.
Resist the tendency to panic. Remember St Peter on the water, how he was doing fine while he kept his eyes on the Lord but started to sink as soon as he saw his position without divine help.
We can start off in a sinking position. We need to hold firm and just tell ourselves what we know to be true, that God does not forget His children, as He remembers even the sparrows.
One more thing: remember that everything that happens is for a higher goal, namely eternal salvation. We do not receive everything we want, exactly as we want it. We have to fit our plans in with God’s plans and this will mean we have to rearrange things.
Whatever disappointments we might feel will be compensated for as God will bless us beyond what we would have asked for.
This is what it means to seek first the Kingdom. Let God decide what He does with us and we will end up a lot happier than we would have managed for ourselves.
Our confidence might sink but God remains the same every day and for all eternity. He will provide for us. Do not fear.
