O Lord, Hear My Prayer

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When life knocks us down and we don’t get the answers we want to our prayers, we may question God’s love for us. Maybe you’ve asked Him questions like, “Why did You let her break up with me?” or “Why did You let me get fired?” God might answer, “She didn’t love you. I want you to be happy, and you wouldn’t have been happy with her” and “I let you get fired so you could find more satisfying work that better utilizes your talents.”

Heartache, fear, and anguish are natural and normal human feelings and may drag us into dark places. We may feel abandoned by God and wonder why He let this happen.

God doesn’t promise we won’t have pain; He promises to be with us during our pain. Christ relates to our suffering because He also experienced deep anguish during His passion and crucifixion. He begged the Father to ‘take this cup away from me’ and yet added, ‘not my will, but Yours be done.’ The Father knew, and Jesus knew, that He had to die first in order to attain the joy of victory – His resurrection. 

Asking, and trusting, Christ to carry our cross with us helps take some of our pain away. Prayer helps us remember that He loves us and wants what’s best for us; that He sees things we can’t see and knows things we can’t know; that He wants us to be happy; that He can make good come of any situation; and that He will never leave us alone. 

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia used to talk about a contest he was asked to judge, a contest to find the most caring child. The winner was a four-year-old boy. The boy’s next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman whose wife had recently passed away. When the boy noticed the man out in his yard crying, he went over to the man, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked him what he’d said to the neighbor, the little boy replied, "Nothing. I just helped him cry."

Christ may not change our situation, but He shows us His compassion through a friend’s loving actions and supportive words. He reminds us of His love when we read Scripture. He gives us new insight and encouragement through a homily. He’s also given us tools to help ourselves relieve stress through activities we enjoy like taking in the beauty of nature, listening to music, getting some exercise, or doing yoga stretches. 

Suffering is part of life, and Christ never meant for us to suffer alone. In the midst of our pain, we trust Him to stay with us and help us carry our cross. 

“Oh, Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you.” – Psalm 102:2

Open my eyes, that I may see You. Open my ears, that I may hear You. Open my heart, that I may love You in the people around me.

Thank you for reading my reflection.  All thanks to God for giving me the ideas and guiding my words!    © 2025 Gina Bedell   

  

Through these reflections, I invite you, the reader, to reflect on a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer, additional spiritual reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other qualified persons in order to grow in your faith and understanding of God’s love and will for your life. 

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P.S.

Pray for peace at home and around the world. Donate to a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the people around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

Go Deeper Than the Storm

 

Winds howling. Mountainous waves tossing yachts like toys. Rain flying sideways. We’ve seen it in movies, and some of us have experienced it first-hand. Storms on the water can be brutal.

Far below the storm, though, far below the surface of the water, there’s calm. The fish and other creatures lurking at the bottom may not even notice there’s turbulence up above.

We have storms in life, too: A terrifying diagnosis, an accident, or serious illness. Financial difficulties. Family and work troubles. We’ve all had our share of suffering. These challenges may come upon us like the storms on Lake Erie: intense and without warning. We’re blindsided, and that shock adds to our anxiety.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” 

– Matthew 11:28

Imagine Christ saying to you, “Go deeper than the storm. Go where there is peace. Rest there, and let yourself be enveloped in peace. You can’t stop the storm but you don’t have to stay in it, either. Let the storm rage, but don’t let it toss you or break you. Surround yourself with My peace and know that, even if you can’t control the storm, you can control whether you stay there and fight it or take shelter in the depths of My love, where you will find peace and calm.” 

What does it look like to ‘take shelter in the depths of His love’? First, sit still. Breathe deeply, and slow your racing mind. Thank God for creating you out of His love. Thank Him for all He has already provided for you. Remind yourself that He is omnipotent; ask Him to help you carry this heavy cross. Trust that He, because of His immense love for you, will answer your prayers in the way that provides you with your greatest good. Ask Him to fill you with His peace. Let go of the tension in your mind and body.

Then, ask Him to show you the next step to take. While you’re sitting still and also as you go about your day, pay attention to the ideas that come to mind. Do you need to consult your medical provider? What changes can you make to lessen your financial strain? What professional resources are available to you? Do you have loving friends who support you, who would be happy to help if you asked them to? 

You don’t have to carry the burdens by yourself. Let Christ lead you toward those people who have been blessed with specific skill sets to assist you. 

Storms are part of life. Take shelter in the depths of His love and trust Him to guide you through the turmoil.

“Say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in Whom I trust.” – Psalm 91:2

“Hold me close, Lord, and show me the way through this storm.”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2023 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly to your inbox, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

p.s.

We continue to pray for an end to the war. If you’d like to help the people of Ukraine through the Cleveland Maidan Association, you may use either PayPal or a credit/debit card here:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/...

Jesus Suffered, Too

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” – Psalm 22:1

Last Wednesday, two days after the horrific Nashville school shooting, our daughter in Pittsburgh got a text from her daughter’s preschool saying there was an active shooter nearby, and all schools and daycares within a mile radius were in lockdown. Thousands of parents could only stay put, pray, and wait for more news. About 30 agonizing minutes later they learned it had been a hoax. While on one hand that was a relief, it didn’t diminish the anger and helplessness that was felt by our daughter, son-in-law, and the other parents.

Saturday I drove to Pittsburgh to visit them for a few days. Sunday during Mass, Bishop Zubik addressed the terrifying events of Nashville, Pittsburgh, Ukraine, and the world in general. My granddaughter was whispering questions to me during part of the bishop’s homily (and I was happy to answer) so I didn’t hear everything he said, but what I did hear hit home:

The bishop reminded us that Jesus was both man and God; He was like us in all ways but sin. He felt physical pain and human emotions just like we do. On Calvary, the fact that Jesus knew He would rise from the dead didn’t take away His pain. He cried out from the cross, ‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?’ The bishop remarked that those directly affected by violence surely could be crying out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ 

I thought about this later: Jesus wept when His friend Lazarus died (John 11:35). He felt the sting of betrayal when Judas turned Him in. He felt abandoned when Peter denied Him and when the apostles fled in fear. He felt excruciating pain on the cross. 

You, too, may be crying out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ Maybe you’re distressed by fear. Maybe your heart is breaking and you feel forgotten. Maybe you’re in extreme pain, and you feel ignored because you’ve begged Him for healing and the illness is still raging. Maybe you feel frustrated because He hasn’t come down and stopped all the violent madness. 

When these feelings overwhelm you, remember that Jesus knows what fear, sorrow, abandonment, and all the rest feel like. He experienced unimaginable physical pain, too. Let that reality comfort you. 

Pope John Paul II said, “As the individual takes up his cross, spiritually uniting himself to the Cross of Christ, the salvific meaning of suffering is revealed before him. He does not discover this meaning at his own human level, but at the level of the suffering of Christ.”

Jesus knows what suffering feels like. Ask Him, and He will give you His strength and His grace to get you through yours. 

“Lord, thank You for suffering out of love for me. Help me carry my crosses.”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2023 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly to your inbox, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

p.s.

We continue to pray for an end to the war. If you’d like to help the people of Ukraine through the Cleveland Maidan Association, you may use either PayPal or a credit/debit card here:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/...