"God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength... but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it." I Corinthians 10:13
Whenever we struggle, Jesus is cheering us on to new and greater heights, like no one else can. He is lifting us up in ways we are most often fully unaware of. He is there in the midst of it all. Though God does not necessarily cause the strife we experience, He often allows it for our personal growth. Though we may be tested to the brink of what we think we can bear, God will never try you beyond what you can handle. He will give you endurance, courage, and strength, make a way for you, and bring you peace when you seek Him with your whole heart, even for the first time.
"Because you have kept my message of endurance, I will keep you safe in the time of trial that is going to come to the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth." Rev. 3:10
Isolation. Cabin fever. Health issues. Job stress. Financial strain. Loneliness. Depression. Anxiety and fear of the unknown. Sound familiar? You may be experiencing one or a combination of all of these during this unprecedented, difficult time. However, the Bible tells us that there isn't anything you are feeling or experiencing right now that God can't help you with, for the asking. He will give you strength and endurance. The same God who created us is not a distant God, 'out there,' somewhere. He is with us and knows our needs before we even ask. He stands in wait for us to pray and call upon His holy name, in the name of Jesus, to ask for whatever we need. We need to turn to God, believe, and trust Him, even and especially now through this pandemic, for in His infinite love, for He cares for us, and sees our every need in a most personal way.
Our God is the Loving, Saving, Living God, who walked among us in the form of a man called Jesus. He is a faithful God, who is right here holding your hand, providing for you, protecting you, consoling you, and healing you, in whatever way you need to be healed. He is the risen God, resurrected to save us and stand in the breach for all who call upon the name of Jesus.
"If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him." John 14:7
Positive or negative, God never wastes a thing; never lets an opportunity go by, as He always uses our strengths and weaknesses, struggles, and pain for good. In that way, Jesus is forever giving us what we need to cope and carry on. Especially when we pray, He is actively going before us, working all things out for good when we are overwhelmed, anxious, or despairing.
"Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." James 1:1-3
Clearly every aspect of this unwelcome visitor we call Covid-19, could level humanity, but God will not let that happen. In this time of Covid-19 isolation, He is making many people stronger, more persevering, more thoughtful, caring, gentler, kinder, and helping people all over the globe to grow in so many ways. This pandemic, this endurance test, is helping us to appreciate some of the people and things that we have taken for granted. It is growing us in greater resiliency, endurance, and faith beyond anything we have known before in our lifetime. It is letting us know we are NOT in control-God is-and our present situation, though temporary, has the potential to help us grow spiritually. Wait and see--God is in the process of using this situation for good. We just need to seek Him, through Jesus Christ, and watch and see what Our Mighty God does next.
"He will not let you be tried beyond your strength..." I Corinthians 10:13
I have been thinking a great deal about my experience at Reconciliation this past Saturday. I felt an intense and unexplainable urge to go and confess my sins when I woke up that morning. I try to go every six weeks or so, but this was no routine visit to the priest for me. I needed to unburden myself of the numerous venial sins I had committed since I last participated in this Sacrament.
Purest Gold: God's Refining Fire in our Lives »
After salvation, many young Christians wonder if there's anything more to their newfound faith than just the security blanket of "being a Christian." Time and time again, God shows himself as a "refiner," and our lives are as gold. God started leading me in this study to understand what He was doing in my life, as well as in the lives of others.
Picking up my pen to write this column, I couldn’t imagine how time flies. Since the last publication of this column I have gone through a lot, especially the loss of my dear mother to whom I dedicate this article. Not only her, but seems I lost a whole generation of my close family.
How to Achieve Business Excellence »
“Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before Kings; He will not stand before unknown men.” Proverbs 22:29
Spiritual Development for our Youth »
Most of us youth in today's fast moving world are easily thrown off by difficulties and worries.
The theme of conversion is a thread that runs all through Lent, but conversion takes on different aspects throughout the phases of Lent. The first two and a half weeks focused on the interior turning of hearts; the liturgy urges the faithful to reflect and examine consciences thoroughly.
Saint Josephine Bakhita »
Feast Day: February 8
Patron Saint Of: Sudan
Saint Josephine Margaret Bakhita was born around 1869 in the village of Olgossa in the Darfur region of Sudan. She was a member of the Daju people and her uncle was a tribal chief. Due to her family lineage, she grew up happy and relatively prosperous, saying that as a child, she did not know suffering.
Catholics Must Fast More Intensely This Lent»
The Norbertine Canons of St. Michael's Abbey have created this digital Lenten retreat so that you can journey through this holy season alongside them. If you want to have one of your best Lenten seasons yet, join us in our Lenten Program "The Great Fast" - https://theabbotscircle.com/the-great-fast-join
When Your Faith Is Put to the Test - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon»
Friends, we come now to the Second Sunday of Lent, and we’re on both dangerous and very holy ground with the first reading from the twenty-second chapter of Genesis. The ancient Israelites referred to it as the “Akedah,” which means the “binding”: Abraham binds and is ready to sacrifice Isaac at God’s command.
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