Reflection from Sunday August 21, 2022

Why do we go through times of trial?Passage Matthew 14:22-33 

If God truly loves us and is all powerful, why does He allow us to go through times of trial and testing? Most of us have gone through trials and they can vary in severity, but God is always doing a good work, even if we can’t see the rhyme or reason to it’s purpose at the time. Some of the reasons we are allowed to go through trials are: 

• To learn to Trust – God wants us to learn to trust Him because He loves us, wants what’s best for us and knows what’s best for us.
• To keep our focus on God – When Peter was walking on the water, as long as his focus was on Jesus, he had solid footing, direction and peace. As soon as he focused on the circumstances, he lost his solid footing, direction and peace.
• He wants relationship with us and sometimes has to get our attention.

• To prepare us for eternity by growing us to be like Him and conforming us to His image. It can be an intense refinement process just like with gold.
• To prepare us to do for good works for the furtherance His Kingdom

Obstacles that can get in the way of developing a trusting, intimate relationship with God include:

• Sin and the shame it causes
• Being too busy with our own routines and preferences
• Being unavailable or unwilling to be used

Even during life’s most challenging or heartbreaking trials, we really still have only two options: To trust God, even when we don’t see an answer, or not. And since we really have no control over anything, and even our next breath isn’t a guaranteed, trusting God despite the circumstances and keeping our focus on Him, really is our only option.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

So much in these few lines for us to contemplate this week:

-the role of evangelization in our lives which is achieved most often by example;

-the importance of Baptism in living and proclaiming our Faith in the context of the Holy Trinity;

-understanding the fullness of the teaching of Jesus;

-the promise of Jesus to be with us into eternity.

David Jones