Spiritual Corner - Your Plea is not Granted for God has Prepared Something Better for You

Brothers and sisters in Christ, sometimes God does not grant us what we want, it is not that we do not deserve it, instead, He wants to give us something better. Jesus, before his passion, had said to His apostles, “You will not see me in a while, and you will cry, howl and feel sad.” The apostles felt sad not solely because of Jesus’s death, but it was more because their wishes and hopes had been shattered. They had once wished so much for secular privileges, but then following Jesus’ sufferings and death, everything seemed to have faded away. Jesus continued to say, “But your sorrows will turn into joy.” After three days, the apostles’ sorrow turned into joy because they saw the risen Christ. God did not give what the apostles had wanted not because they did not deserve it, but He wanted to give them something better, and that was resurrection and eternal life. Thus, the apostles since then deprecated what was temporal, and went so far as to sacrifice their lives for faith, because they had found much better things.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, sometimes we feel very much hurt and painful, especially when we encounter hardship, sorrow and frustration, and find that God is not responding to our plea. Just relax, God has not rejected you, it is only that He wants to give you something better. Ultimately, you will find that all you have paid for are worthwhile. You may encounter hardship, yet ultimately you will know that God only wants to endow you with strength. You may be in trouble, but ultimately you will find that God only wants to give you wisdom. You may get into danger, but then you will find that God wants to give you courage. You may come across many people difficult to deal with, but you will ultimately realize that God only wants to give you the ability to love. Anyway, you can find that God will give you something that is far better than what you have desired.

Yours,
Fr. John Wang