"There is not a moment in which God does not present Himself under the cover of some pain to be endured, of some consolation to be enjoyed, or of some duty to be performed. All that takes place within us, around us, or through us, contains and conceals His divine action.......If we could lift the veil and if we were attentive and watchful God would continually reveal Himself to us, and we should see His divine action in everything that happened to us and rejoice in it."
~Jean-Pierre De Caussade These words really jumped out at me from the book I've been reading lately for a book club and throughout the whole chapter, these were the words that grabbed my attention. We say that "God is everywhere" and "we can see God in everyone", but when I really thought about this, I realized we don't always live our lives like God is everywhere. What would it mean for us to live like we can see God everywhere? I was chewing on this thought the next few days and then this post jumped out to me from Facebook, it said: "You will never have today again. Are you fully present in each day? Do you realize that today could be your last day? You will never have this time, this day, back ever again. How do you want to live out each moment? How will you choose to live today? Everything you do makes an impact and you choose if that’s positive or negative. Ask the Lord to lead you moment by moment. Ask Him to give you the strength to be present exactly where you are, exactly where He has placed you. He has placed you in this moment, in this time for a reason. Don’t be afraid to joyfully live out this day. You don’t need to be consumed with the past or the future, He longs to be with you in the present. Now. Yes—Right now. Allow yourself to be in the present and live out your day guided by the Lord. He will lead you, be at peace, be patient with yourself and remember that you’ll never be able to relive today again— how will you live out today?" I recognized these two texts not as a coincidence, but God's voice through my daily activities. He's trying to make me aware of something and I need to pay attention. Then I realized what God was trying to say - I am here. I am here even when you don't think of Me. I am here when you are frustrated with co-workers or your family, I am here when you are sitting outside enjoying the sunshine, I am here when you wake up in the morning, I am here when you are eating dinner, I am here when your children and family are loving you or driving you crazy, and I am here amidst each moment of this life you experience. And when I recognized all these moments in which God is present, I've been able to deepen my relationship with God. Before, when I've thought of that passage from scripture when St. Paul tells us to "pray without ceasing", I think it's impossible. However, when I look back on my life and when I've acknowledged God being present in my day, when I acknowledged God is present through the good, the bad, the annoyances, the pain and the beauty, I realize this is how we can pray without ceasing. This is how we can live in the present moment and realize that God truly is everywhere. What I often struggle with (and maybe you can relate to this) is when I hear God's message, or something jumps out at me and I think "oh, I should be better at that!" Or, "I should try doing that, it would definitely deepen my faith life and relationship with God." but then I don't actually DO anything about it. I continue living my life because I'm "happy" enough, or I'm content where I am and I don't want anything to change because I'm afraid of something different, or I just put it off and say I'll do it later. But when I turn back to that book I'm reading, or I flip on another episode on Netflix, or go back to living my everyday life just like before, I get that nudging feeling in my heart that I should have payed attention when God was calling me to DO something. Sometimes I distract myself so much with other things in life and I don't think about it anymore. But usually later on, God metaphorically hits me over the head with a 2x4 by telling me the same thing over and over again until I finally pay attention :) But ultimately I realize that in order to live the life I really want to live and to deepen my relationship with God, I need to act and I need to do it now. God is HERE, in this moment and in EVERY moment. Are you here in this moment? Do you acknowledge Him? Do you let Him in? Do you trust Him to show you the better path? He is calling you to a deeper relationship with Him. Listen. What is He calling you to do? Are you going to DO something?
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I have been reading a book about abandoning ourselves to God's will recently, and I wanted to share part of it with you:
"God has given you this moment as an opportunity to become a saint. The opportunity is not in five minutes; the opportunity is not on the next page or even the next sentence. The present moment is His gift to you. It is your opportunity to abandon yourself entirely to Divine Providence." Reading this sounds so inspiring, right? But HOW do we do this?? How do we abandon ourselves completely to God each and every moment of the day? This seems nearly impossible. It is challenging, but perhaps easier than you think! As we go throughout our days, each thing that we do can be a prayer to God, can be a way to deepen our relationship with Him. The mundane tasks, the big decisions, all of it. Much of the day we are inclined to continue doing the next right thing, the next item on the to-do list. This is good, and we are called to do these things and to spend time with our families and write the next email, or answer the next text message. This all becomes meaningless when we look back at the day and measure how good it was based on how much of that to-do list got done, or if the house got picked-up or cleaned, or if you answered each text message when it came in. These things become purposeful when we love through these actions. When we perform these actions with purpose and love. When we do the dishes, not just because they have to be done, but because we love our family members and we want to give them the gift of having clean dishes to eat a meal from. When we talk to a member of our family about something that frustrates us, and we do it with the best interest of the family and of that person sitting in front of you. When we pay the bills, not just because they are due and it needs to get checked off the to-do list, but because we have responsibilities as adults and we love to be able to provide food, a house to sleep in, water for them to drink and heat to keep them warm. When we do these things and ALL things with the loving intent behind them, this is when we take each moment to become a saint. This is how we abandon ourselves to God's will and truly LIVE in the present moment. This week, I challenge you to do ONE thing each day with this mindset. With the mindset that what you do is important and what you do is consciously out of love for someone - whether that be God or family or friends. Stay positive, and love God. You are Loved! |