Saint Pope John Paul II quote: “We are not the summation of our weaknesses and failures but the summation of God’s love for us.”
I’ve been inspired lately by hearing my friends
and families’ stories of how the Lord has worked in their lives. Whether that
was through them and unto others or receiving that gift from another, the way
the Lord works never ceases to blow my mind! Like dang GOD IS SO GOOD! (all
the time am I right?!) The most breathtaking stories of faith to me are the
ones that start as struggles or failures with sin and how the Lord allowed that
person to grow from that experience. For example, Saint Mary Magdalene was known
for her great amounts of sin and proudness yet she saw Jesus and immediately
fell to the ground on her knees to praise Him. He saw the love she had and
forgave all her sins, and from then on she was one of His closest followers. He
takes those messed up situations, exposes them in the light of His presence,
and gives them pure love. Pure and wholehearted forgiveness, *POOF* and it’s all in
the past! The Lord does not dwell on those struggles, He brings them to light
and allows it to be a learning experience. That’s the Lords love, the
forgiveness comes from the EVERLASTING love of the Father. So no matter what
you do, or what you may regret, bring it to the foot of the Lord’s cross and He
will do the rest. He loves us, and because He knows us so well that it's insane! (in a great way!) He knows exactly
what needs to happen in our lives in order for us to grow in faith and
therefore closer to Him.
Some of you may be in the middle of a struggle
right now, whether it be spiritually related, family related, school related or
maybe even helping someone else get through their own trials. So whatever your
situation may be, hakuna matata my friends because truthfully that is the best
place to be…because from there you can only be RAISED UP. (I don’t know
about you…but now I’m singing Josh Groban in my head) (and I also just sang
Taylor Swift…wow #noshame) A friend of mine shared with me this analogy that a
priest said in a homily during mass: All of our sins we must use as fertilizer
to grow our spiritual tree. Just like the waste of the earth is mixed together
as fertilizer to make trees grow big and strong. Without our failures we cannot
grow and we are human so we are bound to fail but it is what you decide to do
with those failures that determines how fast and strong you grow.
Above I have a bible quote from Psalms that
references how well the Lord knows us and calls us each by name. (Say my name,
say my naaammee….yesss Destiny’s Child throwback jam!) He knows every thought
that comes to our mind before we even think it, so He knows that whatever
struggle you or anyone else is going through isn’t fun…but most of all He wants
each of you to know that those struggles and failures DO NOT define you. HIS
LOVE is what defines us, I mean…He sorta gave His life to save you… so I would say
that’s true and defining love! He wants you to know that every new day that He
brings is an automatic and true “I love you” from Him. (How romantic right?!) With
each sunrise there comes a new opportunity to take those struggles and failures
and turn them into something beautiful, all for the glory of God! Sin and
struggle can seem like a dark hole that you just cannot seem to get yourself
out of. A place where you can’t seem to forgive yourself or think that you can never
be forgiven. Quite the contrary dude, because that’s where you’re totally on
the wrong track! (I just thought of “Totally Kyle” from the Amanda Show as I
wrote that) The Lord’s mercy is undeniable and doesn’t vary or change! It is
forever constant and glorifying! He doesn’t want to us to beat ourselves up
over something that happened, He just wants us to rely on Him and only Him to
raise us up out of that darkness. Only He can satisfy! As mentioned before, the
Lord knows each of us so well. Therefore He already knew what struggles you are
going through would happen, which means He has wonderful plans for it to take
you HIGHER. It means He’s cookin’ up something SO GOOD! The Lord is always
knocking on the door of your heart…I encourage you to let Him in. No matter
what state you are in or how broken you feel, let the Lord into your heart and
the rest will follow. Speaking from experience…ignoring that knock on the door
of your heart isn’t possible, so why wait? Blow that door WIDE OPEN and pray
without ceasing. Here’s a little quote from a song by All Sons and Daughters:
“You have called me higher, you have called me deeper, and I’ll go where you
will lead me Lord.”
P.S. If any of you want to share a short story
of how the Lord has worked in your life I would LOVE to hear! It’s always SO
inspiring because of how UNIQUE we all are. Also if you have any prayer
requests I will gladly take those as well! May the peace of Christ be with each
of you!
P.S.S. I also left a link to "Called Me Higher" by All Sons and Daughters, so that you could listen to it if you want! (which you should cuz it's great!)
Hakuna Matata friends! God Bless!
(and lots of love!) Cass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgAzLKXqcDk
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