Accept to be Small Children

“The Lord is pleased with the church in Smyrna. She has suffered greatly, yet now he asks more of her, exhorting her to persevere in faith as trials increase. So, too, if we accept the crosses that are coming to us, if we persevere and do not turn away into sin, choosing unbelief and false consolations, neither will we be condemned to the second death, which is eternal exile from God.

How can it be that we will pass such tests? Are we not small and weak? Yes, we are. Yet our very weakness is the gateway through which his grace will pour, if we allow it, if we accept to be small children, clinging to our Saviour’s hand, resting on his heart. Then, our own hearts will be opened to his healing power so that he might transform our fear into confident joy.

When things are going well for us, it is not very difficult to remain true to the Faith. But when suffering comes—how quickly we are tempted to turn away, seeking our own solutions. Yet, where else but in trials do we learn to overcome terror with courage, and mistrust with confidence? It is often the case that only when human resources fail us and human hope seems lost do we arrive at a mysterious place of the heart, where the source-springs of life are to be found. There we become able to see the condition of the spring. Is it dried up? If so, we must dig deeper. Is it clogged by debris? If so, we must cleanse it so that the waters will flow again.

Ask and this will be given.”

~Michael O’Brien