Dear Ones, Hope you are having a great weekend! This is a special time as Mark’s family is coming today from N.C. for 10 days! The table is set and we are having Finnish Pasty for lunch!
Devotions from Judy’s heart,
Some time ago Al gave me one of his books to read called The Hour of Testing, which has to do with uniting ourselves to the God more closely in His passion. I put it aside as I was reading another book, and now as I get to this book, it has much to say to me in the present. God’s timing is perfect, as when Al gave it to me, I had no idea I would be dealing with pain. I know many of you have been suffering with pain for sometime and may wonder what good can be reaped from it.

I am seeing how the Lord uses suffering in our lives as St. John of the Cross’ said, “Suffering is the means of her penetrating further, deep into the thicket of the delectable wisdom of God. The purest suffering brings with it the purest and most intimate knowing, and consequently the purest and highest joy, because it is a knowing from further within.” It seems to me when life moves along smoothly, we may leave the Lord out of the center and even become distant from the Lord; but in our suffering, we grab hold of Him and have more of a passion for Him. A quote that stood out to me, “Painful experiences of love have been stone-laden steps on their path to greater love, much of it in interior suffering, mysteriously leading to more intense love.” When I read it, I thought of my fall, for it was actually on a granite stone step. My desire is that this experience would lead me to greater love for the Lord as I offer it to Him.

Maybe we need to think of the link between love and many kinds of suffering in a new and different way. Let us first ask ourselves if we love Him only when things are going well, but turn from the Lord when we suffer. It doesn’t mean we should pray to suffer, but that we are willing to offer our suffering to the Lord to experience greater love for Him. Is it not better to be become more holy than healed? Let us commit to love the Lord and offer even our suffering as a gift.

Challenge for today: Give yourself to the Lord in daily surrender to His ways, even when you may not comprehend why you are suffering.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy