“The crowd was pressing in on him to to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake. He got into one of the boats..sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.” Luke 5:1
As we prepare to begin the school year and reflect back on what has taken place in our society due to COVID, we can be filled with an array of emotions that can impact loved ones or us personally. For front line workers, the plans we had hoped were in place may have fallen short of our expectations and we are called to pick up the pieces and place them where they belong. Being at the mercy of others can be difficult and can pull us here and there like a ragdoll. We may find ourselves taken on others burdens. We may find ourselves losing control of situations and in fear need more control. Taking a step back and looking at the broader perspective as Jesus did can help us. While the crowds pressed on Him, Jesus remained focused on God’s whole plan not just all the immediate events in front of him. Before any great event, big or small, can happen, taking time to pray can help us stay focused and calm.
Like many people I enjoy a well laid out plan especially with things that are close to us. All my childhood I dreamed of going to Italy the birth of my parents and relatives but at the time it didn’t come to pass. After many years of pining over my dream to visit the birth place of my ancestors my dream was realized according to God’s plan and His timing. My daughters were just finishing University and yearned to go, my mother in law who had no desire to return to the Greece she left behind full of poverty and war suddenly agreed to go and our family’s heart was full and ready. It was time. Earlier in my life I would have planned every detail of the trip but instead I let go and let God in. I placed Him in the center of all of it. I prayed and prayed. My daughters had gone to Europe for their University graduation gift and planned a tremendous trip. They enjoyed it and it gave them courage and allowed them to grow. So we offered them the opportunity to plan the whole trip for us, they emphatically said yes. My daughters along with my husband planned an incredible trip while I prayed it be filled with God’s love, adventure and purpose. Everything in our lives should be for the sake of helping others grow in love, courage and faith. The experience is etched in heart forever, from the tear-filled, joyous reunion in Italy with my beloved aunt and uncle and cousins after 48 years; giving the joy filled gift to my mother in law to see her sister after 45 some years; transforming spiritual wonders in our hearts to reveling in the natural surroundings to the outdoor cafes and delectable cuisine of Greece and Italy, the trip was utterly magnificent and left us all in awe. The Bible tells us, for everything there is a season. It was God’s time for us as a family, my greatest joy, to journey together and be filled with His love in a way that He wanted us all, not just me, to share in His love. The more we take the focus off ourselves and instead bring to mind all God’s children, the more we learn to let Him in our lives. This all came to pass from the fruit of prayer and trust in God’s plan.
Jesus is always portrayed as going to a deserted place to pray before anything is to take place, then he shares God’s word, and only then with God’s plan in His heart an event unfolds or a miracle takes place. Often we can feel it all depends on us when in fact all is from God. Sin can misguide us in a self seeking path that usually disappoints us but God’s love redirects us. We can become focused on the one thing in front of us when there are so many things trying to manifest themselves as part of God’s perfect plan. God asks us to let go and let Him in a way that may be new to us but in the end a journey worth taking. He wants to teach us before we cast our nets like the fishermen at the lake of Gennesaret, then perform God’s great works in us and all around us. If we miss out on the teaching it may make us feel wobbly or insecure like a man on stilts for the first time. On their own the fishermen weren’t able to catch any fish and said to Jesus, “Master, we have worked all night and caught nothing..”. Then the fisherman relied on Jesus instead and said, “if you say so I will let down the nets”. When this happened, “They caught so many fish the nets were beginning to break”. When we rely on others or our own ideas we can be disappointed but when we step back, pray and rely on God’s plan, miraculous things can happen. God has the most perfect plan for our lives sometimes we need to be patient and open to His ways and allow it to happen.
Let us pray. God in your infinite wisdom help us to trust in your amazing plan for each of us. Let us see beyond the minute in front of us, your great will for us. Guide our heart, mind and soul in so that we may partake in your glory and love for us and all. Let us build your kingdom that we may all share in the eternal joy with you, Mary and the Saints. Amen.
Peace,
Claudia
ournourishedsoul