Saturday, May 1, 2010

Holy Daring

It's officially springtime, and so much is happening! Students are preparing to graduate from schools everywhere at all different levels (high school, college, graduate school!), First Holy Communions are taking place, Confirmation ceremonies are happening! It's a time of new beginnings, turning a new page in our lives, and starting new (and often scary!) pursuits!

Many times, our initial reaction is one of fear. There is so much ahead of us that challenges us in any given situation - and we are so imperfect! Our desires are so great! How are we to ever to accomplish all that has been placed in our hearts? But, these fears are met with the power of Christ's Truth: if God has placed a desire in our hearts, He has placed it there for a reason, and will grant to us all that He has promised us.



Now, don't get me wrong: this requires great faith to trust in God enough to know that He's going to keep His Word. But WOW - when He decides to grant us, bit by bit, those desires of our hearts - WOW! He does NOT disappoint!

This is where holy daring comes in. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that we're highly imperfect. More and more every day, we become aware of ways in which we are less and less deserving of God's love. It is humbling and humiliating (humiliating often being a great source of humility!) to watch our opinions of ourselves crumble into dust. But, isn't that what we are actually made of? Isn't that the real truth of our condition? And isn't God's Love the only thing that TRULY gives us value? Blessed is the man who recognizes that it is not by his OWN worth that he earns the Love of God (who can earn God's love?!), but by the worth and love of GOD HIMSELF, showed to man by Jesus Christ! We have to trust that THIS is our portion, that THIS is our value, so our mistakes are null and void. God is our value if only we accept Him. God's love is all that He says it is, and that's that. We simply have to DARE to trust Him, to stick our necks out and courageously face ourselves (our own numerous imperfections!) and our world with infinite FAITH in His ability to love and care for us!

We can't do anything alone. We were not made for ourselves, but rather for God. We will always be missing something if we don't fill our lives with Christ. And yet, in serving Him, in seeking Him and giving up all that we knew in the courageous and daring pursuit of the deepest desires of our hearts, how can we fail with that kind of faith in Him? Even as He moves in us, we move in Him, and our lives are forever transformed by our encounter with Christ. There is no fear in Him, only love. THAT is the deepest desire of our hearts, after all - love.

So, as all of us start these new pursuits in our lives, let us remain confident in Christ, that although we may not know what we are doing, we may be unsure of ourselves and anxious of the future, that we may balance those feelings that are NOT of God with GOD HIMSELF, confident in trust in Him and hoping for EVERYTHING from Him who has promised us everything. We cannot fail in Christ.

I was recently thinking about the new job I will be starting this summer as a legal assistant. The work involves looking up information for memos and writing down requirements for visa applications, all of which I have never done before. It's scary to go into unexplored territory! Yet, armed with Christ, given the sword of His Word, we can conquer anything that we may come up against! It is this hope, rather than confidence in our own abilities to overcome our shortcomings, that drives us to always seek God, to praise Him and to know Him, and to FIND Him!

I recently read and fell in love with Ephesians 6:10-20:

"Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all (the) flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and supplication, pray at every opportunity in the Spirit. To that end, be watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the holy ones and also for me, that speech may be given me to open my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains, so that I may have the courage to speak as I must."


We cannot truthfully go into battle unprotected and expect to make it through unwounded. Our lives are a battle against ourselves, and you cannot use self-defense against yourself. We must put on the armor of Our Lord's righteousness and truth, holding faith as a shield, and wielding the Word of God as our sword. Any other attempt at protecting ourselves in battle is like using a Halloween soldier costume as armor in battle - plastic does not a good defense make! Why would we settle for anything less than the best when our lives are on the line?

May today we live our lives not in fear of sin, but rather in the hope and confidence that comes from faith in God. May our paths be made straight, our hearts be made clean, and our voices praise Him always! May our day be filled with joy as we struggle, peace as we are attacked, and infinite faith, hope, and love in God as we discover our weaknesses. May we not run away from all the battles we face, even the ones against ourselves, that we may seek to find Our Lord EVERYWHERE. And may we offer up the fruits of these struggles to others, as we seek to give away more and more of ourselves every day, dying to our own sinful nature, and confident in the steady climb to the top of the heights of the desires that God has placed in our hearts!

In the Love of Christ through Mary,
Christina :)

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