Patient Trust
>> Friday, December 12, 2008
Above all, trust in the slow work of God
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability -
and that it may take a very long time.
And so I think it is with you.
your ideas mature gradually - let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don't try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ
This is such a very profound prayer by Fr. Pierre. Reflecting on his words, it beckons me to continue to be patient with God and to completely trust that all things will just fall into place in His Time.
Like all living things, we must allow our plans, our experiences, our dreams, our hopes and aspirations to gradually mature and grow within us and lift them up to God. Because in life, there are no shortcuts nor quick detours. Quick fix solutions do not really improve or solve things... they only numb and give temporary relief. Only in God's leading and able hands are we able to feel contentment and satisfaction and the relief that no other worldly thing can ever give.
So trust in Him. And be patient. And in this Christmas season, may the joy and glory and excitement of the advent season remind us how patient Our Father had been with us. All these years, he had been patient with us.
Isn't it about time we put our trust in Him for a change?
God bless you.
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