To Endure
Patient endurance is what you need now,
so that you will continue to do God’s will.
Then you will receive all that he
has promised. – Hebrews 10:36
Life can become very difficult. There are some ways to deal with difficult times. One way is to escape it or try to. That seldom works out. The many addictions that can be developed to run away from suffering, problems, and simple growth in maturity or many. Our addictions can soothe us, put our souls to sleep, and put us on a standstill. This keeps us in a very immature emotional state. Which over time only makes life worse and may even shorten it.Any endeavor worth seeking can only be achieved when fortitude is operative. In the Spiritual life, this is also true. The movement towards trust and love of God has many starts and stops for most of us. When things get rough, or boring, we may want to seek out activities that will give some comfort, and for a time we tread water. Sometimes we can spend years seeking to keep our head above water by this treading. Yet, in the end, if we seek growth, we will have to start swimming again until the next time when we feel out of sorts. It can be a frustrating cycle. It is for me.
I do believe that without the desire to face up to our inner fragmentation, we will never really get very far on our path toward union with God. It is this longing for the love of God that allows us to learn to endure and walk through the desert, and when we feel our inner chaos and emotional pain, our addiction calls to us. We can with grace endure these episodes. In that there is healing.
Without trust, this may be very difficult. For when we suffer, if we do not look to God, we will look to ourselves to solve our dilemma. Which can cause us to backtrack. Left to ourselves we become a cauldron of many conflicting emotions, thoughts, and temptations. There is no end to them. Christ draws us out of this inner quagmire.
Once we conclude that we are the problem, not God, it is then that we can learn to trust. Trust is a choice, not a feeling, nor is it an emotion, but a steely determination to seek out the grace of God in our lives.
Even in failure, we can always turn back in trust, and move forward, hopefully over time being able to endure with joy and trust in our Savior. Yet we must pray, read scripture, and be an integral part of a community. As a Catholic, the sacraments play a vital role in this.
Also, don’t try to figure out where you are in your spiritual life, it is a waste of time. Only God truly sees us and knows us. We just need to take the next step, then another, and the one after that. -BrMD
