By Christopher Lenart, a parishioner at Ss. Peter and Paul Parish, Naperville, who is posting once a month, every month, on this blog, writing about faith-related matters
To contact Christopher, email him at clenart@comcast.net
We always ask God to help us like it is an emergency. I ask Him to get me work or more personal care assistants or whatever I need that day. We work ourselves up to a point where we lose faith in God. Is God our servant, or are we His servants?
I think this question is a good one to ask ourselves because, if He is our servant, isn’t it like saying that we are above Him? Surely we aren’t. Although we want Him to hear our every begging call, which He does, but He answers when we are ready to receive what He desires to give us. It might be what we asked Him or something totally different. Two summers ago, a priest’s mom was placed in hospice care. But she didn’t end up dying until early August 2018. So, God has the last say.
We can see that, if isn’t our decision when things happen in our lives, but it is God’s time. I always wanted to get married, but it seems that I will never get married, but God only knows. I can’t force a woman to marry me although. It is the same thing with getting a job. He gave me 14 years of working for a great company. I can’t complain. I am doing what I love to do. I am totally blessed with what God has given me.
If you are saying that God never hears you, so what is the point of asking? Well, that is a great question to ask. I do believe when we ask Him for something, it opens up a conversation with Him. By talking with God, you are building a relationship between you and Him. If you are married, do you remember when you met your spouse? When you met them, you had to say hi and wait for a response back. I imagined that it was really scary to start a conversation, but you did it. It is the same thing with talking to God. He desires the closeness with us.
We are in a society where we want everything right this second, and if we have to wait, it’s unacceptable. I think, as more and more people become this way, they will push God away. God is God, and He won’t change for us, so we have to rewind our expectations and live our lives for God.
You might be saying that work is demanding you to go 100 MPH. I was in the corporate world for 14 years, so I understand how you feel. You have to pick God or work but not both. If you pick God, you might not get the next big promotion. You have to remember one thing and that is work can let you go at any time, but God will be ALWAYS with you. I think the decision is easy to make: you just have to pick God.
As I end this article, I want to say thank you to all of you who liked my July 2018 article in Christ is our Hope magazine. (For those who missed you, you can read it here.) It touched me so much. I reached out to all of the churches in the diocese about doing talks, but I need you to remind your pastor that I am available. Also, if you want to stay in contact with me, please get on my weekly newsletter. You will know what I am doing. You can do that by visiting www.disabilityawareness.us