Faith in the Storm

God revealed and offered Himself totally to us through Jesus on the Cross and in the Eucharist. 

Faith is my response to His Gift of Himself to me. Faith is the total gift of myself in return to God. Total surrender to Him, to rely on Him without reservation. Faith is to believe the whole truth of what Jesus teaches through the Church. To do what Jesus teaches – to live according to what Jesus told us. If we don’t live it, then we must not have believed Him in the first place.   

Teresa of Avila is insistent: if we want to reach true and lasting happiness an unavoidable condition is required: total surrender to God. She writes: “Let Your will be done in me in every way, and may it not please Your Majesty that something so precious as Your love be given to anyone who serves You - only for the sake of themselves.” 

 “Courage! It is I”

After the miracle of the multiplication of the Loaves, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he would send the crowds away. And then he went up into the hills to pray…When evening came, he was there alone, while the boat, by now far out on the lake, was battling with a heavy sea, for there was a head-wind. In the fourth watch of the night he went towards them, walking on the lake, and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. 'It is a ghost' they said, and cried out in fear. But at once Jesus called out to them, saying, 'Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.' lt was Peter who answered. 'Lord,' he said 'if it is you, tell me to come to you across the water.' 'Come' said Jesus. Then Peter got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water, but as soon as he felt the force of the wind, he took fright and began to sink. 'Lord! Save me!' he cried. Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. 'Man of little faith,' he said 'why did you doubt?' 

Jesus calls Peter a man of little faith – and Peter had just walked on water! What would Jesus call me? But recall from our first point of meditation, Faith is to give oneself totally to God, to rely without reservation on God, not partially, totally. Peter sank because he had faith in himself, he relied on himself and not on Jesus.  

Almost all people live with faith in themselves and not in God. We develop talents, strengths, relationships, health, wealth, professions, etcetera… And we put our faith, our trust, our reliance in these. But this is faith in oneself, not in God and it is but sand or shall I say – as solid as water. 

Faith is a Conversion from Self-Reliance

Conversion is not just from a life of sin to grace; but also from faith in oneself to faith in God. Faith is a conversion from self-reliance to reliance upon God and His Providential care. But it takes an outside force, a strong wind to disrupt us, to strip away all we relied upon that was not God, that was sand. This leaves us powerless and bewildered.  

Until 2015 I thought I had faith in God. Then He allowed me to undergo this mysterious muscular skeletal problem that affects my breathing and digestion. My health, strength and energy failed me and it led to a crisis in faith. Not a crisis of faith in God. God had not failed me. It was a crisis of faith in myself – for - What I relied on was myself in the form of my health, my strength and my energy – and that had failed me. I relied upon - I had faith in - ME, not in God. It was weak. It was sand. 

The Will of my Father

Jesus concluded the Sermon on the Mount with this warning:  'It is not those who say to me, "Lord, Lord", who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. When the day comes many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, work many miracles in your name?" Then I shall tell them to their faces: I have never known you; away from me, you evil men!' 'Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock. But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!' 

 Surrender to Him

Through difficult situations God tears down our stability.  

To increase our faith in God, He allows us to be stripped.  

He allows the wind and rain to erode our self-reliance, all that is sand in our lives, until we reach the bed-rock which is Jesus. 

A crisis is a time of decision to choose faith or reliance in oneself or faith, reliance on Jesus the Rock.  

True faith relies on Jesus and His Word; not on ourselves.  

Faith grows with the choice to rely on Jesus when all human means fail us.  

You will also undergo a trial of faith.  

God will place you in difficulty.  

You will be unable to cope with it.  

Your life will be out of control and unmanageable.  

You will be bewildered.  

God allows this to make it impossible for you to remain in a state of faith-stagnation.  

This trial of faith will force you to make a decision.  

You will either retreat and your faith will decrease, or you will surrender yourself to Providence in the darkness of faith and your faith will grow.  

For we receive God in the measure of our faith, the measure that is of our trustful surrender to Him.