Of Faith and Perspective

The WORD today (see http://usccb.org/bible/readings/100613.cfm) reminds me of two important things in life – Faith and Perspective

Durian is a very intriguing fruit. It is one of the smelliest, and others would say one of the tastiest fruit. A lot of people don’t like its smell, that in hotels in places where durian is available have a sign explicitly saying that durian is not allowed inside the hotel. With them hating the smell, they don’t even want to taste the fruit. Others, however, are comfortable with the smell, and like the fruit very much. Well they say it’s a love it or hate it relationship with Durian, no in between.

Same is true with our faith. Either you have faith, or not. Probably some have greater faith than others, that’s why the disciples in the gospel asked Jesus to increase their faith. But if you have faith in you, that’s a good start. Jesus said if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, then we can move mountains. Really, that small faith is enough? I used to think that yes, that probably is enough. But what I recently discovered is that is becomes enough not for anything, but because God has faith in us! It is his faith in us that increases the power of our little faith. It is his faith in us, our capacity to do good, our capacity to do great things through him, that enables us to do so, to move mountains. Yes, I believe that it is not just our faith, but God’s faith in us, that enables our mustard seed sized faith to move mountains.

As such, we should remember that anything we accomplish, great or small, is because of God – not because of our faith and talents. That is why it is important to put things in perspective. God enables us to do great things. And as we serve him, as we do things for him, and as we get tired and weary for doing such, we should not feel a sense of entitlement to God’s blessings and favours. We should not feel that because we do his work, God should bless us. In the gospel it says that the servant is really supposed to be serving his master. Although we should not look at God as our master and us his slaves, rather, we should remember all the great things he has done for us and have given us. All his blessings and love we have been experiencing all our lives. This should move us to serve him in more ways than one, and should be the reason why we serve. This should remind us that serving him is our natural response to his love, that serving him is our way of showing him that we love him too.

Father God,

Thank you for today. thank you for another Sunday. Thank you for all the blessings you have been giving me. Lord, I pray that you continue to complement my faith. I know I have little faith, so I pray that you never tire of having faith in me. Your faith in me increases the power of my little faith, and I pray that as I continuously experience your love and faith in me, my faith will slowly and eventually increase as well. Lord, I also ask that you always remind me to put things in perspective. A lot of times I get tired by doing your work. I pray that I may not have this sense of entitlement as a result of my service to you, and just continue to work for you as a sign of my love and gratitude for all the blessings and love you have been giving me. Amen.

Blessed Sunday!

In Christ,

-g-