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I’ve been combing through old notebooks, re-looking at notes I took during some of Father Rick Thomas’s teachings at daily Mass at the Lord's Ranch. I came across this one that I wanted to share with you:
“A big problem God has is getting people to believe good news. People are more ready to believe bad news and are more ready to give themselves to bad news. When the Lord tries to give good news, people generally misinterpret it.
“It says in Isaiah 55:8-9 — ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’
“When God makes a promise in Scripture, it is always greater than we can imagine. But we can’t believe the good news. And because we can’t believe the good news that God wants to bless us, we can’t give ourselves fully to Him. We think we have to take care of ourselves because we can’t believe the Word of God.
“Mary was able to believe the good news and give herself to it. The blessing was much greater than what she thought. Luke 1:45 ‘Blessed is she who believed that the promise of the Lord would come true.’ She was blessed because she believed it and gave herself to it.
“We don’t comprehend how much God wants to bless us. It’s too good. We can’t believe it. God has so much more for us than just a Häagen-Dazs ice cream.”
Why so hard to believe?
It got me thinking: Why is it so hard to believe that God really loves us, that He wants to take care of us, and that He will provide for all our needs?
There are many reasons why we can have a hard time believing God's promises: being hurt and betrayed by people close to us, abusive authority figures, tragedies and crises in our lives, etc., etc.
Father Thomas went on to say:
“God has plans. We don’t know what they are, but God is doing something marvelous. We need to believe it and go with it. Be loose as a goose. The birds just know that God will take care of them. He would take care of us, too, if we let go and let Him."
Perhaps this week, we can spend some time with the Lord, asking him to heal us of our disbelief and distrust of Him in any areas where we have it. Ask Him to open our eyes to the blessings He showers down each and every day—to remove whatever hinders us from trusting in His loving and providential care.
“Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!”
Action item: take a moment to post in the comments some way that the Lord has blessed you this week.