Revolution of Love.com
Trust in God
by Brian
One sunny morning, before heading off to work, I stopped at the local super-market to grab a cup of coffee. After getting a cup of hot java, I quickly ran to my car. As I was pulling out my car keys, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I turned and several feet away from me was a small gray bird.
I watched the little bird for a moment as he hopped around pecking at the pavement for his breakfast. He seemed to be unaware of me and continued his morning ritual, eating whatever he could find. As I opened my car door, the Scripture passage from Matthew 6:25-33 entered my mind and heart. This is where Jesus tells his disciples, “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet Your Heavenly Father feeds them.”
This simple illustration by our dear Lord beautifully captures what the saints called confidence in God. St. Claude de la Colombiere, spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, apostle of the Sacred Heart, wrote a beautiful prayer entitled, “An Act of Hope and Confidence in God.” The prayer begins: “My God, I believe most firmly that Thou watchest over all who hope in Thee, and that we can want for nothing when we rely upon Thee in all things; therefore I am resolved for the future to have no anxieties, and to cast all my cares upon Thee…”
The beginning of this prayer captures the essence of what it means to have confidence in God. It reflects the exact confidence that Jesus asked His disciples to have in His Heavenly Father. Jesus explained to them in Matthew 7:11, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in Heaven give good things to those those who ask Him.” In other words, God wants to take care of us.
Many times we act as though God is distant. We allow fear and anxiety to take over, which is like giving the devil a personal invitation to attack us. We should never worry about God being distant or aloof for He is always close even when we don’t experience this closeness. I believe one of the most attractive and beautiful traits of Carmelite spirituality is its emphasis on the presence of God. As St. Teresa wrote, “God is among the pots and pans.” Teresa was correct. God is not only near when we are praying or while we are in Church, but all the time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Each one of us has a Father in Heaven who loves us. He calls us to have confidence in Him and to trust in Him. Unlike Thomas who would not believe in Our Lord’s resurrection until he saw the holes in his hands and His peirced side, we are called to believe, to have faith, to trust, without seeing. As St. Paul wrote in his second epistle to the Corinthians, “We walk by faith, not be sight.”
As the little bird hopped around the parking lot of the grocery store, eating this and that, constantly trusting in God’s generosity, we should do likewise. We are called to trust not in ourselves, or the world or possessions, but in the “Father of lights,” who desires to give us “every perfect gift.” (James 1:17).
God bless.