Are humans all alone here on earth as we face our struggles, solve our problems, and make our decisions? Could it be that God created us and then left us alone to face all our temptations and difficulties to see if we are strong enough to win His reward of Heaven? Honestly, I have believed variations of these ideas at different times in my life. However, I have come to see the truth as God has helped me several times in my life with various issues, from major troubles, like the near-death accident I wrote about last week, to minor problems.
One minor problem that the Lord helped me with was in the area of house maintenance. To begin, it should be known that I am no Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor from the 90s TV show Home Improvement. I can change light bulbs and hang the occasional picture, but that is about as far as my skills go.
However, several years ago, we faced an issue with our shower drain that caused about seven inches of standing water. The drain required a special key tool to remove the grate cover, a tool that I regretfully never received from the previous owner, so I turned to prayer.
Immediately, during my prayer, I had the idea to use a plunger to unclog the drain. I honestly do not know if this was the right move or not, but it worked! The water went away, and the shower worked great again. An insignificant issue, but still, I believe that God came to my aid to help me solve this problem in my life.
God cares about us and wants to guide us. Because of this truth, St. Paul teaches us, “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God” (Philippians 4:6). God has us in His hands.
A God of Miracles
We have a God that cares and loves us so much, He tells us not to worry about anything. He will, as Romans 8:28 tells us, bring good out of all things for those who love Him. God can bring good out of anything that happens to us. Even the worst events are under His watchful eye. And we can completely trust that He is always bringing good out of even the suffering in our lives. We can trust Him to handle everything in our lives, the little things, like my shower struggle, and the big things.
In fact, God wants to do big things in our lives. Even more, He wants us to ask Him to do big things. By trusting in God and His desire to bring good for us and from us, we can allow Him to work in our lives and bring about good things for us. He will not force His will upon us; He will only work in us as far as we choose to let Him.
God is always seeking what is best for us. He wants to guide us to our full potential, just like He did for many of the saints that came before us. We need to be humble and trust in His goodness and providence. In sacred Scripture, Moses learned this exact lesson.
When God called Moses at the burning bush, Moses was not sure God had chosen the right guy. He made excuses and even asked God to send someone else. However, knowing Moses ‘heart, God asked big things of him and wanted him to lead His people out of slavery. Moses said ultimately said yes, and God used him to free the Israelites.
After they left slavery in Egypt, the Israelites found themselves standing on the shores of the Red Sea, trapped with the Egyptian army clamoring behind them. Instead of panicking, Moses turned to the two million slaves he had freed and told them, “You only need to be still; the Lord will fight for you” (Exodus 14:14) — a profound message even today.
Then Moses went to God in prayer and asked Him for help. God answered in a big way, splitting the sea to save His people. The Israelites were blessed to experience God’s awesome power and love, the same power and love that He shows us today. And they were able to experience this because Moses knew his Heavenly Father and His loving care for His people.
God’s loving care for His people was also shown by Jesus to a blind man in Mark 10:46-52. The blind man, named Bartimaeus, knew of Jesus’ power and with great faith called out to Him as He was passing by. Many others tried to get the man to be quiet, but Bartimaeus did not want to miss his chance and continued to call out. Jesus heard him. He then called for the man to come and asked Bartimaeus what he needed. The blind man’s bold response was, “Master, I want to see.” Jesus heard his prayer and healed him.
To be healed of blindness is a big request, but God saw Bartimaeus’ faith and granted his request. Boldly asking big things of God shows our profound faith in Him. Moses showed this same great faith, and we can too.
Confidence and Humility
Like Moses and Bartimaeus, we can trust in God’s loving care and power, put our hope in Him, and ask big things of Him. Part of this confidence in God means that we grow in humility, recognizing our own limitations and dependence upon Him. Humble confidence shows the Lord that we recognize and honor both His Godliness and our deep need for Him in our lives.
When we recognize our own limits and acknowledge God’s limitless power and love, His power and love are shown to us all the more. He wants us to show our faith in Him. He wants us to humbly ask and expect things from Him, things that are good for us and those around us.
And we can do this by simply asking these big things of God silently in prayer. If you want to ask God for help, here are a few steps you can take.
- Give Him permission. Once again, God will never force himself upon us. He waits for us to grant Him permission to work in our lives. If you want God to help you, you must open your heart to Him. Do this by simply telling God that you give Him permission to work in your life.
- Surrender to Him. After you give God permission to work in your life, you must then open your whole life to what God wants. Hold nothing back from Him. Give Him permission to rearrange, take away or add whatever He sees fit. You must allow Him to work as He knows best and give up the mindset that you know what is better than He does.
- Trust in His providence. With this act of surrender, you can rest assured that God is good and will direct your life to make it very good as well. Providence means that He is guiding everything and does not make mistakes! You can trust that God is guiding your life and even bringing good out of the things that seem bad. When you ask for God’s help, you must be ready to trust that whatever He does will be good in the end, however uncomfortable it might be in the midst of the process.
- Believe that He can and will do great things. With God, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). This does not mean that all things will happen, but that God is STILL ABLE to make them happen. We are called to trust that HE CAN. Let Him know your desires. He will either give you what you want, or you will receive something better.
Remember that God is interested in your life. He put you here for a reason and wants to help you discover and carry it out. Therefore, you no longer need to be unsure. Go to God confidently, trusting that He will take care of you no matter how big or little your request of Him may be.
