In the Midst of the Storm

Life is never without challenges.  It’s easy to be good and choose God when life is calm, and there are no storms to navigate.  Life is much easier if we are not being pelted by rain and dodging the fearful lightning strikes as we walk.  Our fears and anxieties  rage against us, unleashed by the storm.  Where is the peace God promised us?  How can we survive this onslaught of rage and violence?  What can we do?

We can pray.  Prayer is the primary and most effective weapon we have been given to battle any evil, any storm.   When we humble ourselves and pray, we surrender our will to God’s Will.  God’s Will is love.  God’s Will is peace.  God’s Will is that we become saints.  He doesn’t cause the storms, but He allows them to happen so that through the gift of free will, we can choose Him and grow closer to Him through our sufferings.  We can choose His Will.  We can allow God to use the storm to purify our souls.  We only need to keep our eyes on Him.  Through prayer, we open ourselves up to God and His graces pour down on us.

How should we pray?  For what should we pray? Pray for God's Will to be done.  Pray for the graces to surrender yourself totally to Him.  Pray for God’s love to heal our hurts and pain.  Pray for those who have caused us great pain in this storm.  God loves each of His children, even those for whom we do not care.  God even loves those who have hurt you. Even as Jesus hung on the cross, tortured and dying, He prayed for those who hurt Him.  He saw them through the eyes of love.  We can choose to see those who have hurt us through the eyes of God, or we can choose to see these people through our pain, hurt, and sorrow.  We are entitled to our emotions, but in spite of our emotions, we must seek God and choose His Holy Will.  We might not want to pray for good things to happen to those we don't like or don't love, but we must pray for them and see them through the eyes of God’s love.   We must pray for healing for ourselves and others.  We must pray for the strength to forgive.  We must pray for the graces to reconcile ourselves to God when we sin, for we are all sinners. 

Pray! Pray! Pray!  This is the message of Our Lady.  Pray until prayer becomes a joy to you.  Pray for those who hurt you.  Pray for those whom you do not love.  Pray for your enemies.  Pray for those whom you love.  Pray for you.  (Yes, pray for you.)  Pray that you bear the fruits of God's love for all to see.  Pray that you live and walk in God's love each day.  God will never say no to this.  God will give you the graces and strength you need to overcome your trials and walk through the storm.  God will hold you in His loving arms and guide you as you walk.

Pray to your guardian angel.  Ask your angel to be on guard and keep you away from sources of temptation.  Resist the urge to gossip.  Resist the urge to think  unkind thoughts.  Resist the urge not to pray.  (Remember satan does not want you to connect with God.  satan will try to deceive you and convince you that God is not listening to you when you pray.  satan will put obstacles in your way.  Rejoice, then!  You are bearing good fruits.) 

 Enlist the army of saints, known and unknown in heaven, to intercede for you before the throne of God.  Ask them to bless you and keep you.  Ask them to intercede for you that you might not fall in this storm. Through prayer, choose holiness, choose God. 

Of course, you will fall at times and fall into sin, but  continue to pray as you’ve never prayed before.  Open your heart, your mind and your soul to God and He will work miracles in you.  God will touch your heart and your life in ways you cannot know, understand or expect.  Of course, the road is full of obstacles.  Of course, the road is full of challenges.  This is to be expected.  Even Jesus was tempted.  Even Jesus was challenged.  He knows what we go through in the storm.  He is our God Man.  He is our Brother.  He is our God.  He is the God of Miracles.  Pray.  Bear the holy fruits of prayer. 

When you fall, seek God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Be humble.  Admit you've sinned.  Open your heart to God.  Seek forgiveness.  Give forgiveness.  As Jesus said  when Peter asked: “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?”  Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy times seven.” Matthew 18: 21-22

Pray!

Pray and pray with your heart.  The road is rarely easy.  Be one with God through prayer.  Be Holy.  One day, you will be a saint.  You will see God, and He will say, “Well done.  Welcome Home.”