Posted on 02/08/2010 8:44:34 PM PST by GonzoII
With submission and conformity to the will of God we should bear the evil consequences of which falling into sin is often the cause. It may be some indisposition or some more serious effect on our health brought about by over-indulgence; some sacrifice we have to make because of money spent foolishly for selfish ends; some bad turn in our affairs owing to impatient or imprudent conduct on our part; difficulty in resisting temptation and leading a good life because of a long habit of sin we have contracted -- the situation fills us with worry and anxiety and we feel unable to cope with it. God certainly did not wish you should sin, but the sin having been committed, He wishes for your good that it should he followed by this punishment.
Accept it then from His hand in the belief that there is nothing more suited to regaining His favor than your humble acceptance of it. Then, far from being prejudicial to you, your failures, in so far as they give you the opportunity of submitting to His will, will be as it were a monument to your perseverance in God's service, and the more numerous they have been, the more glorious will be their witness to your perseverance.
Let us take a practical example. A man has to make a journey on foot. He must go across rough country, he is without food and almost exhausted, so he falls repeatedly. But he gets to his feet again each time, determined not to give in and, come what may, arrive at his destination. When he finally arrives, is it not true to say that his perseverance has been all the greater and more heroic in proportion to the number of obstacles he has had to overcome and the falls from which he has recovered?
1. THE WILL OF GOD MADE AND GOVERNS ALL THINGS
2. GOD DOES EVERYTHING WITH SUPREME WISDOM
3. THE GREAT ADVANTAGES TO BE GAINED FROM
ENTIRE CONFORMITY TO THE DIVINE WILL
4. IN THE NATURAL INCIDENTS IN OUR DAILY LIVES LIVES/IN CALAMITIES
5. IN THE CARES AND DIFFICULTIES OF FAMILY LIFE
6. IN REVERSES OF FORTUNE
7. IN POVERTY AND ITS HARDSHIPS
8. IN ADVERSITY AND DISGRACE
9. IN DEFECTS OF NATURE
10. IN SICKNESS AND INFIRMITY
11. IN DEATH AND THE MANNER OF IT
12. IN THE LOSS OF SPIRITUAL CONSOLATION
13. IN THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR SINS
Throw me a bone here!
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