The Lord is my life's refuge: of whom should I be afraid?
Every night, before I go to sleep, I offer my life to God. I give God my eyes, ears, mouth and heart. I want to be freely accessible to Him. I want to use these senses as God wishes. Does that mean I just sit back and
let God do everything? Of course not. It means that I am asking God to help me use my senses to promote whatever will bring His love to each person I meet.
Who do we turn to when we are in trouble? Usually, we turn to God, perhaps in our own way. Our heart and soul knows where our home truly is. We only need to listen. When we are ill or someone we love is sick, don't most of us turn to God? I usually ask for whatever God's will is for that person. I know that God knows the larger picture. Sometimes it is hard to do because, of course, you want the person to get better. However, God knows what is best.
Please don't think I consider it to be not prayer when you request something from God for yourself or someone else. I am saying that, if you truly put your life and that of others in God's hands, this is the only solution I find possible. Sometimes, in these situations, I tell God what I would like, but then say, "Your will, not mine, be done."
Knowing my life's refuge is God, there is no room left for fear of death, someone hurting me emotionally, or illness. We have peace in knowing that God is truly with us. He is not only with us, He is within us. We can have peace and confidence while opening ourselves to new experiences and to the people God would like us to meet. Does that mean we need to go to foreign lands and become missionaries? Some people do this, and I admire and respect them. However, not all of us are called to that ministry.
All we have to do is look within our own families and communities. There may be someone who is isolated and not very outgoing. They may have even hurt us. After you have a conversation with them, you may discover they
are shy and lonely. I once experienced a situation like this. I was on a trip and someone on the airplane seemed preoccupied and a bit irritable. I found that this person had a chronic illness which caused a great deal of pain. This was why they were irritable. I had initially believed the person was someone with a negative outlook on life. If I had left it at that, I'd have missed a great opportunity to share and experience compassion and love.
We all discriminate in some way, usually due to fear or lack of information. It is hard to look within ourselves but, if we realize we are all God's beloved sons and daughters, it gives us a new perspective. We realize there is no need to be afraid.
I need to mention that there are times when you need to be aware of one who shows violence or abuse toward you. I don't see that as fear, but as self-awareness.
Protect yourself! Do what ever is necessary to get out of the abusive situation. Each relationship is different, and I will not generalize, but you deserve a safe place in which to live. If you have children, both you and your children need a safe place to live.
To summarize, in this chapter we have discussed the ways Jesus forgives us and how we are called to forgive others as he has forgiven us. We have reflected on God's light being within us and others and how prayer is very important in forgiveness. We have looked at fear and how sometimes lack of information about someone can lead us to believe they are negative or disrespectful of us when they might be going through a difficult time. The last reflection was if we are being abused we need to get out of the situation. We can work on forgiveness later but if we are being physically, emotionally, or sexually abused we need to get out.
The movies are full of revenge and getting back at people who have done incredibly evil things. My guess is, we don't go through an entire day without someone being irritated at us or insensitive. It could even be ourselves. It seems as if our culture thinks that if we fight back and hurt the person who did these evil acts that we are the heroes. We have "saved the day."
If that were true, how then do we understand the life of Jesus? Even as he was being crucified, He said, "Forgive them Father, they know not what they do." Because of his forgiveness, everlasting life was given to us. Talk about the power of forgiveness! In reality, it takes much more emotional, spiritual, and psychological work to forgive than to settle for a moment of revenge.
The truth is, real power and strength comes from forgiveness. But, how often do we see a movie in which the hero is heroic because he or she forgave? Unfortunately, not very often. If we hold on to our bitterness and
hate, we are in turn held captive by it. We don't have the energy for compassion and happiness. How can we be happy when our stomach is in knots?
We may wonder, how can we possibly forgive someone who has harmed us? Most likely they don't even care or know they hurt us. They go on with their life and we're still stuck in that moment when we were hurt. We still relive it each time we remember and our feelings get churned up within us. No longer are they hurting us but we are hurting ourselves.
Only when we are able to forgive can we have freedom from the pain the person caused us. One of the passages of the Bible explains this well. When you read it think of how forgiveness would relate to this scripture and what Jesus might mean when he says, "The kingdom of God," in Mark 12:28-34.
One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them , asked him" Which is the first of all the commandments?"
Jesus replied," The first is this: Hear oh Israel! The Lord our God is God alone! You shall love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength."
Remember the prodigal son story? Remember the love the father showed? Once we have experienced that love, once we have drawn close to Jesus, our heart yearns to love him more. Once we have felt his presence we know we are loved. Our heart and soul know their creator. This prayer attempts to try and explain this connection.
Fragrance of Love
The sweet aroma
of love surrounds me
as I lift my voice in prayer.
The sweet perfume of
your sacred presence
fills my heart with peace.
I bath in the
waters of rebirth
and listen as you say,
Smell the roses
and breathe in my
scent of delight.
Feel the essence
of my light
as it warms your soul.
My fragrance of love
will calm the inner
storm and turmoil.
Can you smell
my cologne of holiness
as I draw near?
Let it consume
you and take
you off your deepest self.
That's right, follow
me even deeper,
now we are resting in your soul
Feel the aroma of
my sacred light
warm your soul.
Smell the bouquet
of eternal love
and sing with angels.
Now you are home,
now you are
with your creator.
There is no greater love,
no greater peace,
your soul is at peace.
Your heart gently
beats with mine
and the two beat as one.
Rest a little while longer,
then spread the fragrance
of love you have received to the world.
Article Source : Cindy Tuttle
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