“Trusting God… A Very Good Thing”

Sometimes I can get weary as I make my way thru the scriptures. They seem to portray how God’s children are slugging it out in the trenches in a World War I type of battle….. a little progress here, a setback there…a lot of mud and cold and sickness and poisonous gas. Will this battle end one day? Who is really winning?

I just read a brief article by Dorothy Day. She really seemed “battle weary”… noting  “today the atmosphere is very heavy. Rain threatens. So often one is overcome with a tragic sense of the meaningless of our lives—patience, patience, and the very word means suffering….the powers of the world are overwhelming… as old as I am, I see how little I have done, how little I have accomplished along these lines.” Yikes, I thought I was having a bad day. 

The good news is that Dorothy didn’t end with that; she ended with hope, reminding herself that she was a daughter of God, loved by God. She also went on to say that one of the greatest injustices we can exhibit is to distrust God’s love, not realizing the love of God. (Magnificat: Sept. 22, 2021) 

Praising God and his great creation is always a good way to dispel these attacks of discouragement. “the heavens proclaim the glory of God and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands. Day unto day takes up the story and night unto night makes known the message.” (Ps. 19:2-7) 

This is the truth. God is God. He is magnificent. There is no question that the Lord will have the last word. The devil, the father of lies, lies to us and tries to get us to doubt God’s word. We must guard God’s word when it comes to us so that the devil does not ”come and take it away from our heart so that we don’t believe.” (Luke8:4-15)

Let’s remember to ponder all that is good.  “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Phil. 4:8) 

Let’s fill our minds with the thoughts of God so that we are able to stand in this desperate age. And let’s look to the day when Christ will have the last word and the battles are over and eternal happiness greets us. In the meantime, “smile, God loves us”… we have no reason to fear. And that is very good news.