Do we recognize God?
Do we really know who he is? Do we know him more than what our minds tell us, what we have been taught about him?
The first reading http://usccb.org/bible/readings/121411.cfm tells us who God is. He created everything. He is the great designer. He is the mighty savior. He is powerful. He is the Lord. How great it is to be serving a God like this. He is so powerful, mighty, yet so gentle of heart and so loving. What joy we would feel serving such a God (see http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2011/12/rejoice-in-lord.html).
Yes, it is great to know God, to have a personal relationship with Him. However, if we don’t yet, or we feel we need to build it up, we should not be discouraged. We should take inspiration from John the Baptist in today’s gospel. He sent his followers to Jesus. He wanted to know more about Jesus. He was humble enough to ask. Jesus did not really fit the description of the messiah people were expecting. He was not a strong political figure, so john must have wondered if this Jesus really is the real thing. Jesus answers by telling John’s disciples His work, his actions (Yes, actions speak louder than words sometimes. See http://mysimplereflection.blogspot.com/2011/12/actions-speak-louder-than-words.html). It must have been difficult for John, knowing Jesus is not the Messiah they were expecting, but upon recognizing him, John still did his role. He continued to prepare the way for Jesus, and led the people to him. John’s testimonies even led his disciples to follow Jesus (john 1:37 http://wwwdev.bibleshark.com/bible/NAB/John/1/37/ ). John had faith in God, and obeyed God’s will even if things are not always the way he expected.
It is not always easy to act like John the Baptist. Sometimes, when I don’t understand God’s ways, I question him. Sometimes, when things are not what I expect, I pause and wonder. During these times, we should pray for faith. God sees the entire picture. God loves us so much to let us go. We have to remember who God is, what he can do, and how much he loves us. This makes things better. Likewise, it is comforting to know how great God is, that his great and perfect plan cannot be destroyed by one bad judgement on our part. Kahit minsan sumasablay tayo, God’s plans will still happen, so we should be too hard on ourselves when we feel we could have done more or when we feel we should have done the opposite of what we did. That will not make Him love us less. What’s important is we learn from our mistakes and continue to serve him.
Reflection questions:
Who is God for me? Do I really know him? What do we do when we don’t know something about our faith? What do we do when we feel we don’t know Jesus enough? Do we just expect the answers to come, or do we proactively and humbly seek the answer ourselves? What if God’s answers come in a way I don’t expect? Do I still obey, or do I insist on having it my way?
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