“You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” (Luke 12: 59).
I have been reflecting a lot about suffering and sacrifice.
Sometimes in life when we suffer – or we see others suffer – it can feel as though the suffering is so huge that it is bigger than God Himself.
People do not often actually say, “Oh dear, this suffering and this pain is so terrible that ti is bigger than God.” Instead, what they say is, “I cannot bear it.” Or, “It is hopeless.” Or, “What is the point of all this.” Or even, “This is not fair.”
And these are very HUMAN responses to suffering. I respond to suffering like this all the time. But there is another – PERFECT – response to suffering, and I know that this is so, because my Lord and God, who is King of the Universe, suffered perfectly for love of me during His passion and death. And His Blessed Mother, Queen of Heaven suffered perfectly too.
And they did not say things like, I cannot bear it.” Or, “It is hopeless.” Or, “What is the point of all this.” Or even, “This is not fair.”…
They said – in God’s own words… “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42).
And this shows me something – even now, twenty centuries after those words were uttered… It shows me that God Himself accepted suffering as coming from the Will of God Himself. And He did not ask questions or blame God or imply in any way that God could not help Him in this trial. And in fact – for Christ – He was completely alone. God the Father and God the Holy Spirit did NOT help Him during His trial. That is why His sacrifice is so unimaginable – because He knew that He would suffer and die ALONE, completely ALONE and isolated from the other Persons of the Holy Trinity…
“He also said to the multitudes, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” (Luke 12:54-59).
And I have been thinking about those words of my Beloved. Because He told me – as He spoke to the Pharisees that day, two thousand years ago – that I need to stop trying to interpret God. That is not my job. I need to ACCEPT the sign of the present time and endure the trials I am allowed.
After all, if God the Son could accept the trials allowed by God the Father, what other example could I possible be waiting to accept before I finally accept the Holy Will of God?
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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