Jesus told Sister Faustina, "The greatest obstacles to holiness are discouragement and worry."
If you need to be encouraged to drop discouragement and worry like a hot rock, consider the following bits of wisdom:
"Don't give in to discouragement...If you are discouraged, it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own powers. Never bother about people's opinions. Be humble and you will never be disturbed. It is very difficult in practice because we all want to see the result of our work. Leave it to Jesus." ~Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
"Wherever there is discouragement and despair, we are sure to discover a deficiency of faith in God and a failure in patience and humility." ~Endow study guide
"All the reasons that cause us to lose our sense of peace are bad reasons." ~Jacques Phillipe, Searching For and Maintaining Peace
"If we are discouraged or have lost our peace, "We don't believe that He [God] is capable of utilizing everything for our good and that NEVER, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, would He leave us lacking in the essentials - lacking anything that would permit us to love more. To grow or to enrich one's spiritual life is to learn to love. Many of the circumstances that I consider damaging could, in fact, be for me, IF I HAD MORE FAITH, precious opportunities to love more: to be more patient, humble, gentle, merciful, and to abandon myself more into the hands of God." ~Jacques Phillipe, Searching For and Maintaining Peace
Today's Gospel reading (John 20:11-18) was about Mary Magdalene weeping at the tomb, after Jesus had risen. The angels and the Lord himself, asked her, "'Woman, why are you weeping?' She has come to her own fatalistic conclusion about what happened to Christ - 'They have taken my Lord, and I don't know where they laid him' - and it is from this pessimism that she must be converted...Something Greater than our sorrow is now at work in the world. It is the reason why, even in our weeping, we bend over and peer into the tomb, full of expectation." ~Magnificat
We are an Easter people. We have the joy of the risen Christ! We cannot allow discouragement and worry to rob us of it. Like Mary Magdalene, we cannot be caught crying outside the empty tomb! We know where our Lord is. No one has taken Him. He has not been laid anywhere. He ascended into Heaven and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. He is interceding for us, and we must not forget that. Ever.
No matter how dour our circumstances, we must reject the notion that we are justified in our discouragement and worry. We are not! They are simply the fruit of too-little faith. We can understand discouragement and worry best as a swing set, a slide, and a lie. A playground for human weakness, where the Truth is stuck outside the fence.
Dear Risen Christ, Savior, and Redeemer, Thank you for the rain today. Thank you for the empty tomb. Please forgive our temptation to discouragement and worry. Please give us the grace to remember You, Your intercession, and Your power in every circumstance. Please forgive our forgetfulness and lack of gratitude. Thank you for the example of Mary Magdalene - her great love, and her flawed humanity. Thank you for loving us, still. Amen.
Just what I needed to hear today! Thank you Heidi! I find great treasure in your words! It's all for God's great glory! Discouragement and worry are indeed signs of pride. Thank you for opening my eyes on this Easter Tuesday. It's all for God's glory!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were convicted, Melissa! Sometimes, a timely reminder is all we need to get over the hump! I'm so thankful God gives us one another to this end!
DeleteI just wanted to share that there are some people who experience a pain and suffering in which discouragement and worry is a daily struggle of which no amount of decision or will on the part of the person can change that fact. For these individuals, it is important not to feel that their faith is lacking because they are struggling, but to accept that this is the cross you have been asked to carry for however time it may be and by embracing this weakness and giving it to Jesus, he can use it for his glory. We can't will away the discouragement, but Jesus will gladly take it from us and transform it for the glory of his kingdom if we give it to him.
ReplyDeleteYou make a great point, Erin. I do not want to cast a shadow on those who have not consented to their discouragement and worry, like most of us do. I recognize there are many factors which influence the intensity and duration of discouragement and worry. Whether it is anxiety, or any number of psychological conditions, we must understand the cause, and as much as possible, guard against accepting the feelings of discouragement as truth. We should pray for fortitude, which transforms suffering into endurance, endurance into character, and character into hope, "and hope does not disappoint us". ((Romans 5:3-5) Thank you for this perspective, Erin.
DeleteExcellent information here - which is a great reminder for everyone. I struggle with worry, anxiety, and discouragement every single day. Sometimes I find it difficult to put one foot in front of the other. The history of depression in my family combined with some painful family circumstances makes me wonder what my purpose on earth is. However, I continue to look for weapons to fight Satan. When one stops working or becomes dull, I find another one. I continue to pray that God gives me an endless amount of tools and weapons to carry on His will for my life. Currently, my weapon of choice is the "I Thirst" CD by Tatiana. The story of the crucifixion told in beautiful songs by a wonderfully talented musician. You cannot listen to this CD without feeling better than you were when you started. Other excellent tools are the rosary and the chaplet of the divine mercy on CD. I have a tendency to let my thoughts wonder when I try and pray these on my own,but by listening to them on a CD helps to keep me on track. They are available for free on The Mary Foundation website. Keep writing, Heidi - you are such a good and faithful servant!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this very helpful and practical advice! You are wise to keep Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection as your focus. Finding new and different ways to look at it and experience it is great advice for all! Thank you for reading, responding, and most importantly, for your example.
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