Why does God always seem to push the envelope?
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:25-34
I grew up hearing the saying: "God never gives us more than we can handle." Sometimes it seems, He can sure push the envelope! But often, when the tough times happen we reflect on what God's purpose is for us going through these trials. Has He forgotten us? Is He angry with us? Does He not see my pain?
Being a career soldier for many years, I like to put some of these trials in the form of a boot camp (or Basic Training for us Army pukes) analogy. You see, boot camp is built to tear you down then build you back up in the Marine's or Army's image. They take you from a selfish, self absorbed youngster to a much more mature team player in just a few weeks. The lessons you learn during these weeks teach you to rely on your fellow soldiers, your commanders and your service, taken one by one until you are ready to undertake the responsibility of being a soldier.
Our Heavenly Father is the founder of such training. As we mature in faith, He sees to it that we are taught the lessons needed to evolve into a mature Christian. Many of these lessons involve growing your faith. He may put you in a position where the world as you know it (financially, physical health, or even faith) might end if something does not come to pass by a certain date. You roll nearer to that date anxiously looking for an answer but it just doesn't come. You feel helpless. You pray. Your faith is tested to the limit, then on that faithfull day something happens to make it all work out. You are relieved, you are redeemed. But if you learned your lesson, you are also stronger in faith, because He always gives you what you need. Aren't you more important than those lillies, He might ask you. As the Army works to remove traits that are undesireable for a soldier, God works to remove traits that are undesireable to a Christian. To get those lessons taught, He often puts us into or allows us to get into circumstances that are far less than desireable as a way to chisel off the rough edges of a growing Christian. He even pushes the envelope on our understanding of what we can handle, just to help us grow stronger and more confident in our faith. Yes He won't give us more than we can handle, but only He knows how much that capacity is.
Another analogy I like to use involves the following poem:
CHISEL in hand stood a sculptor boy,
With his marble block before him: - And his face lit up with a smile of joy As an angel dream passed o'er him. He carved that dream on the yielding stone
With many a sharp incision; In heaven's own light the sculptor shone. He had caught that angel vision.
Sculptors of life are we, as we stand,
With our lives uncarved before us; Waiting the hour when, at God's command,
Our life dream passes o'er us. Let us carve it then on the yielding stone,
With many a sharp incision: - Its heavenly beauty shall be our own -
Our lives, that angel vision.
"a traveler through a dusty road."
God has to chisel and sculpt us into what He wants us to be as His servants. Imagine if the rock was alive while the scultor chiseled, imagine how much it might hurt that rock with every tap or impact against it. It is no different for us with the Supreme Sculpter. He wants us as His servants, but rarely do we come perfectly equipped to carry out the mission He has for us. Rarely do we look like the Christian He plans for us to be....and so He chisels...first He works on the selfishness that leads to breaking His laws and being in rebellion. Then He chisels some more, refining each stroke with a lesson that will take us closer to what He wants as a finished product. Sometimes when He chisels us, it hurts! Sometimes we don't know how much we can take! But He does. He knows what He is doing. He is getting you ready to glorify Him, and no matter how good we are, we can never be good enough...so He just keeps chiseling, keeps teaching and eventually, we come out in His glory as a masterpiece of the true Master and Teacher.
God's grace be with you,
Fr. Charles Butler
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:25-34
I grew up hearing the saying: "God never gives us more than we can handle." Sometimes it seems, He can sure push the envelope! But often, when the tough times happen we reflect on what God's purpose is for us going through these trials. Has He forgotten us? Is He angry with us? Does He not see my pain?
Being a career soldier for many years, I like to put some of these trials in the form of a boot camp (or Basic Training for us Army pukes) analogy. You see, boot camp is built to tear you down then build you back up in the Marine's or Army's image. They take you from a selfish, self absorbed youngster to a much more mature team player in just a few weeks. The lessons you learn during these weeks teach you to rely on your fellow soldiers, your commanders and your service, taken one by one until you are ready to undertake the responsibility of being a soldier.
Our Heavenly Father is the founder of such training. As we mature in faith, He sees to it that we are taught the lessons needed to evolve into a mature Christian. Many of these lessons involve growing your faith. He may put you in a position where the world as you know it (financially, physical health, or even faith) might end if something does not come to pass by a certain date. You roll nearer to that date anxiously looking for an answer but it just doesn't come. You feel helpless. You pray. Your faith is tested to the limit, then on that faithfull day something happens to make it all work out. You are relieved, you are redeemed. But if you learned your lesson, you are also stronger in faith, because He always gives you what you need. Aren't you more important than those lillies, He might ask you. As the Army works to remove traits that are undesireable for a soldier, God works to remove traits that are undesireable to a Christian. To get those lessons taught, He often puts us into or allows us to get into circumstances that are far less than desireable as a way to chisel off the rough edges of a growing Christian. He even pushes the envelope on our understanding of what we can handle, just to help us grow stronger and more confident in our faith. Yes He won't give us more than we can handle, but only He knows how much that capacity is.
Another analogy I like to use involves the following poem:
CHISEL in hand stood a sculptor boy,
With his marble block before him: - And his face lit up with a smile of joy As an angel dream passed o'er him. He carved that dream on the yielding stone
With many a sharp incision; In heaven's own light the sculptor shone. He had caught that angel vision.
Sculptors of life are we, as we stand,
With our lives uncarved before us; Waiting the hour when, at God's command,
Our life dream passes o'er us. Let us carve it then on the yielding stone,
With many a sharp incision: - Its heavenly beauty shall be our own -
Our lives, that angel vision.
"a traveler through a dusty road."
God has to chisel and sculpt us into what He wants us to be as His servants. Imagine if the rock was alive while the scultor chiseled, imagine how much it might hurt that rock with every tap or impact against it. It is no different for us with the Supreme Sculpter. He wants us as His servants, but rarely do we come perfectly equipped to carry out the mission He has for us. Rarely do we look like the Christian He plans for us to be....and so He chisels...first He works on the selfishness that leads to breaking His laws and being in rebellion. Then He chisels some more, refining each stroke with a lesson that will take us closer to what He wants as a finished product. Sometimes when He chisels us, it hurts! Sometimes we don't know how much we can take! But He does. He knows what He is doing. He is getting you ready to glorify Him, and no matter how good we are, we can never be good enough...so He just keeps chiseling, keeps teaching and eventually, we come out in His glory as a masterpiece of the true Master and Teacher.
God's grace be with you,
Fr. Charles Butler
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