Third Monday of Lent

"Go and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will heal, and you will be clean." But Naaman went away angry, saying, "I thought that he would surely come out and stand there to invoke the LORD his God, and would move his hand over the spot, and thus cure the leprosy. Are not the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be cleansed?" With this, he turned about in anger and left.

When we receive a response from God that doesn’t match our expectations, we can rebel against it. Like Naaman, we can be angry when our prayers are answered in an unexpected way. We might have grand visions of what our lives should be like going forward, but then our lives go in a different direction and we wonder, “Why me? Why this way?” However, part of being a child of God and a follower of Christ is trusting that no matter where God leads us we shall be better off. God knows our strengths and weaknesses better than we do and so He knows what we can handle and what we cannot. He knows if we are ready for certain successes. He knows when we need a setback to remind us we are not perfect. He knows what we need and gives it to us. He knows what we want and will withhold it if it isn’t good for us or if we aren’t ready to receive it. The key is to remember God has only our best interests at heart and as long as we trust in His Wisdom above our own, then we shall have peace even when our prayers and expectations are not meet in the way we wanted them to be.

What prayers and expectations do I currently have? Am I willing and ready to allow God to answer these hopes in His way? How can come to a more perfect trust in God?

O Lord, give us the grace to allow you to answer our prayers in your own way and time.

Amen.