We human beings are such a glorious mess. Our glory is in the fact that we are made in the image and likeness of our Creator, the God who loved us into being and sustains us with his grace in good times and in bad, who invites us constantly to live in his ways, the ways that lead to true happiness. He never abandons us, even when we abandon Him. He has made us intelligent, capable of profound insight. But here is the kicker; He has also made us free, and that’s where the messiness so often enters our reality. Why? Because with our free will we are capable of both great good and great evil.
The Bible is full of examples of both sides of our human character. It is full, too, of the wisdom that comes from knowing this about our divided selves. There are countless examples of our prideful foolishness throughout both the Hebrew and the Christian Testaments. But the lessons that are taught and learned, offer us the possibility of the renewal of our humility, which is always the truest, most effective remedy for our pridefulness.
We see this gift of humility expressed powerfully In the 30th chapter of the Book of Proverbs verses 7-9. It is a clear recognition of our capacity for self-deception and our need for the grace of God to help us remain true and faithful to him. It reads: “Two things I ask of you, deny them not to me before I die: Put falsehood and lying far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; provide me only with the food I need; Lest, being full, I deny you, saying, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or, being in want, I steal, and profane the name of my God.”
This short passage gives us perfect examples of how the world can tempt us to desire those things that, in the worldly sense, ‘appear’ to be good. The prayer we see here in this passage from Proverbs is a plea to God for the graces to remain true to him. It is a recognition of how we are capable of lying to ourselves and to others and of how the siren call of worldly goods can lead us astray. It is a recognition of the humility we need to help us see the consequences of our choices and actions, before we act, and it reveals our need for God’s grace to be able to do so.
This prayer asks for the grace to recognize and to be true to God’s will and his ways. It asks for the grace to find the narrow path, to live with moderation in all things: “give me neither poverty, nor riches; provide me only with the food I need.” Why? Because when I am too full, too comfortable, too self-satisfied, I tend to forget and even deny God, saying to myself, “I am the Lord of MY life”. It also recognizes how the reality of being in want, can tempt us to steal, and by doing so we profane the name of God. Through God’s gift of Free Will, we have the freedom to choose which course we are going to take in every case. Our prayer to God, then, is that we might be given the graces of wisdom and prudence so that we might more often honor God’s will in and through all of our choices and actions.
Being caught between the things of the world and the things of God we pray constantly. But sometimes we feel that God isn’t listening to our prayers, that he has abandoned us. But it is not he who abandons the relationship. Most often it is we who have abandoned him. If the Lord seems silent, he is not. He is always there, always ready to help, always at work on our behalf. It is a matter of faith to know that even in those times of darkness, when we feel abandoned, he gives us enough, more than enough, to meet the challenges before us. When we feel far from him, we should ask ourselves: Are we making the most of what he has placed before us? When we willingly choose to follow God’s ways, no matter how easy or how hard, we are giving him proper thanks and praise. This is the foremost of prayers. Thanks be to God.
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