We spend a lot of time striving.
We work towards a greater income. We aim to be successful. We maintain our stuff so that it will last longer. We manage our time. We take vitamins and work out in order to live longer and be healthy.
A question I’ve often pondered deals with the interplay between what God can do in all of this and what you can do in life.
Have you ever stopped long enough to consider this? We have that famous quote from St. Ignatius of Loyola (did he really say it?), “Work as if everything depends on you but pray as if everything depends on God.” I’ve liked that nugget of inspiration but I’ve also struggled with it.
The reason: dishonesty. If I really believed that all depends on God, I’d have far less worry about the future and far more contentment with what’s in front of me. I wouldn’t stop striving but I would act more out of a rich trust in Divine Providence and less fear of my own frailty.
Robert Wicks, a profoundly insightful spiritual writer, puts it this way, “When we do what we can do, we begin to truly learn and have patience with what only God can do.”
In other words, do what you can. Strive away. But, as you strive, you’ll become acutely aware of God’s mysterious and vast love and Providence.
When I became a high school president at the age of 35, I drove my parents up to see the school. My dad, as only he can do without intending to be rude, said, “And how exactly did you get this job?”
He was right- only God could have prepared an opportunity for me at that particular moment in history. Only God.
This weekend, think of the You-and-God teamwork taking place right now in your life. Strive for greatness. Rely on Providence.
-Mike
We work towards a greater income. We aim to be successful. We maintain our stuff so that it will last longer. We manage our time. We take vitamins and work out in order to live longer and be healthy.
A question I’ve often pondered deals with the interplay between what God can do in all of this and what you can do in life.
Have you ever stopped long enough to consider this? We have that famous quote from St. Ignatius of Loyola (did he really say it?), “Work as if everything depends on you but pray as if everything depends on God.” I’ve liked that nugget of inspiration but I’ve also struggled with it.
The reason: dishonesty. If I really believed that all depends on God, I’d have far less worry about the future and far more contentment with what’s in front of me. I wouldn’t stop striving but I would act more out of a rich trust in Divine Providence and less fear of my own frailty.
Robert Wicks, a profoundly insightful spiritual writer, puts it this way, “When we do what we can do, we begin to truly learn and have patience with what only God can do.”
In other words, do what you can. Strive away. But, as you strive, you’ll become acutely aware of God’s mysterious and vast love and Providence.
When I became a high school president at the age of 35, I drove my parents up to see the school. My dad, as only he can do without intending to be rude, said, “And how exactly did you get this job?”
He was right- only God could have prepared an opportunity for me at that particular moment in history. Only God.
This weekend, think of the You-and-God teamwork taking place right now in your life. Strive for greatness. Rely on Providence.
-Mike