GETTING SOMETHING RIGHT TAKES TIME AND EFFORT
“The Lord addressed Job out of the storm and said,
‘Who shut within doors the sea,
when it burst forth from the womb;
when I made the clouds its garment
and thick darkness its swaddling bands?
When I set limits for it
and fastened the bar of its door,
and said: Thus far shall you come but no farther,
and here shall your proud waves be stilled!'” Job 38:1,10-11
How meticulously God was in setting all the world in motion!
God made us, humans, with this same meticulousness, giving us numerous traits and abilities, such as, the ability to focus on things – to arrange and rearrange, learn and unlearn – and we use these gifts when we engage in mastering the art of playing ball, dancing, singing, loving someone, becoming “professional” in the field of our choice. It is hard work, but the joy that fills us when we successfully master something makes it worth all the effort we put into it.
Is this, God’s mysteriously set laws of all of nature, God’s clues to lead us to do likewise, to set the ebb and flow of our own lives to be in harmony with God’s life, to draw ourselves into God’s life? Is the joy we taste in achieving a milestone on our path toward a goal we set for ourselves a clue to the joy we should also be receiving as we achieve milestones on our path toward becoming one with God in mind and Spirit?
God did not give the ocean a free will; it is governed by forces set in place by God. We humans have free will. What are we choosing or letting other forces choose for us? Is this wise? Who gets to decide this and what, in the long run, do we gain or lose by the choice we make or allow others to make?
“On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Let us cross to the other side. ‘ Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?‘ He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Quiet! Be still! ‘ The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, ‘Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?‘ They were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?’” Mk 4:35-41
“Do you not yet have faith?” I wish that Mark, the Evangelist, had given us more information about what happened after the storm subsided.
Why had the disciples’ faith not grown? What kept that from happening? Were they missing something or thinking in a way that was preventing them from developing this deeper faith in Jesus? And what about our faith? Are we “terrified”? Do we “not yet have faith”?
Let’s spend some quality time with Jesus and ask Him to take from our hearts all that prevents us from seeing Him as He truly is. Let’s put as much time and effort into growing our faith as we do in honing our favorite craft, be it updating our professional expertise, perfecting our cooking skills, dance moves and golf swings. Let’s mimic God’s joy-producing precision in setting us and our beautiful world in motion. Let’s add to our schedule time for deepening our faith in God and our faith in our part in making God’s world more of God’s Kingdom on earth.
Sister Loretta