God Doesn't Give Up

 

Imagine driving across the country on a highway with no roadblocks, no detours, and even no attractive exits along the way. Imagine nothing but a straight path, free of challenges and anything that would distract you from reaching your destination.

Sometimes we want life to be like that: we want God to make our journey easy. He knows better than we do, though, and in His wisdom He lets us choose which routes to follow and which exits to take. Over the past 10, 30 or 50 years you probably chose routes that brought you closer to Him and maybe took exits that led you far away from Him. You may even be lost right now. No matter where you are, God sees your potential. He invites you to turn toward Him and let Him pour His grace on you. He will never give up on you because He knows you’re still on your journey.   

Imagine what would have happened if Jesus had said to Zacchaeus, “You’re a liar and a cheat. I doubt anyone would hire you, but go get a decent job and then come back. Maybe I’ll let you hang out with Me.” Instead, Jesus first loved him. He saw the longing in his heart and offered him an opportunity to follow Him. The love and peace that radiated from Jesus caused Zacchaeus to quit his job on the spot, take Jesus up on His invitation, and offer to pay back fourfold anyone he had cheated. Jesus loved him despite his dishonest work and then Zacchaeus turned his life around.

God does the same with us. He doesn’t say, “Get your act together and then I’ll love you.” Instead, He loves us first. He loves us now. He knows we have the potential to become more like Him and never gives up on us. He gives us opportunities to turn toward Him through our circumstances, the people we encounter, and the sacraments. He continually invites us to follow His way of gentleness, kindness, compassion, and patience which will bring us the joy we so desperately long for.

God offers His love and mercy to us no matter where we are. In turn, we’re called to offer these to our ‘travel companions’ and invite them to follow Him. We don’t know all the roadblocks they’ve encountered, and maybe they’ve taken exits we’re unfamiliar with. That’s not our business. What matters is that we’re all on this journey together and, as He won’t give up on us, we can’t give up on each other. Let’s ask God to guide all of us on our journey and lead us closer to Him.

 “Lord, thank You for not giving up on me.”

If you like reading these reflections, please tell your friends and “follow" my blog. To do this, click on the following link:  -> https://www.blogger.com/manage-blogs-following.g

Click "Add" and type in my blog URL: intoflame.blogspot.com

Select your preference and click "follow." Thanks!