God, Can You Hear Me? God Speaks through the Holy Spirit

                                 God, Can You Hear Me?

                      Jesus Speaks through the Holy Spirit

Eileen Renders                                                         March 2024  

How often have we heard about the “Ups and Downs” of life? As an adolescent, those words reminded me of some Amusement ride in a Park. Entering adulthood, leaving my parents, and embarking on a future of my choosing, I began to understand the meaning of those words I had heard long ago. Life, of course, has its joyous occasions, and opportunities, and many dreams are realized.

   However, we also experience illness, failure, and disappointments, and begin to lose some of the family we loved so much. Too often, we are tempted to believe that we are being punished for being disobedient to God. This feeling can spiral into fear, anxiety, or depression. The truth of the matter is that it is sin that separates us from God.

   Whenever we choose to go our own way and do whatever seems to promise us enjoyment, gratification, or financial success, it is we who willfully choose to turn away from God and His Commandments. God sent His only son Jesus Christ to come down on earth to teach us to live according to His will and to avoid the snares of Satan whose sole desire is to separate us from God. His purpose was not to punish us but to save us!

   Therefore, when we pray to God and our prayers are not answered, rather than take that silence as a rejection, and often due to a feeling of worthlessness, we might reflect upon this time of silence. There is a message that we are not hearing.

   It may be that we need to accept the reality of our life, the negative feelings we are experiencing are the result of our choices. We must bear our Cross as we all must accept our Crosses in life. More importantly, we might want to rethink our initial conclusions, such as God is punishing us for our sins. God died a very degrading and painful death for the love of us. Therefore, when we feel the stillness and chill of being separated from God, He has not left us, it is we who have left Him!

   God desires nothing more than to forgive us and bring us back into the fold. He is the good Shepherd.

   Feeling abandoned by God often is the result of abandoning Him through sin. It causes us to feel unworthy of God’s love, and we turn our backs on Him. In this quiet time of our lives when we are experiencing those “Down” times when everything seems to be falling apart, we need not hide those feelings from Him.

   Always we ought to remember that Jesus’ love for us never fails. We need only to confess our sorrow for having hurt Him. Gratefully pick up our cross with courage and most of all trust that God is watching and wants what is best for us. The Holy Spirit can enlighten your heart when you spend time alone with God in honesty and faith in His love for all of us.