Following Christ’s L.E.A.D. to Peaceful Conflict Resolution
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In yesterday’s post, I discussed the Annunciation as part of our Meditations on the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary and what they offer believers.
Having committed to giving a joyful “Yes” to the Lord in whatever He’s called us to do, it’s time to take that first bit of massive action. We’ve got to take His message out into the world.
Disappointment is the mother of all false expectations. If we were excited about God’s plan for our lives, we may have had false expectations about what we’d encounter on our road of service to Him.
When the reality of what happens when we step into His plan doesn’t match our expectations, we can become disappointed and discouraged, wondering if we are really following His plan or just our own illusions.
The vision we were given by Him may not be something we’re fully capable of executing yet, just as the vision of Christ Mary was given began as a single celled zygote in the womb that she could not see but had to trust would bear fruit in due season.
If, however, we are patient and persistent in following the path He laid before us, we will be like Mary and we will live to bear witness to the great things that God’s done for us.
If we entered our path to saying “Yes” with reluctance or dread, we will often find the fear or the doubts and worries melting away as we encounter the reality. The giants we found so overwhelming when we viewed them from afar will proof to be easy to take down with God’s guidance. Like the elephant, they will fear us mice more than we fear them.
Until we act on what we believe God wants us to do, we won’t get an affirmation or a verification that we’re on the right path. But when we’re acting on what we believe God wants us to do and start to go the direction He’s told us to go, we will find all the confirmation, affirmation, and verification we need.
It creates confidence and begins to build momentum that will help God’s plans move forward. Like a boat that creates waves in its wake, the forward motion generates a ripple effect across time and space that moves everything in its path.
Everything God wants to do for us can’t come to us until we begin to take the action He desires us to take. The longer we fight Him, the longer the delay in our blessings that He desires to pour out on us.
The minute that Mary is told her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, is pregnant, her heart goes out to her and she sets out to visit. Mary becomes the very first person to carry Christ to others and to spread the Good News of God's salvation to the world.
This service wasn’t easy. It required a week’s journey through some dangerous territory, and there was no guarantee of the welcome she’d find on the other end of it. She was pregnant with a child that didn’t belong to her betrothed.
Elizabeth’s husband was serving in the Holy of Holies that year. If he determined that she was guilty of adultery, her punishment meant being stoned to death.
However, because she was faithful in putting the needs of others ahead of her own, she received confirmation of the message of the angel when the Holy Spirit filled both Elizabeth and the unborn John the Baptist upon greeting her. Without being told, Elizabeth affirmed that Mary was the “mother of my Lord.”
These things served as verification that she was on the right path and could trust that everything the angel said to her would come true even if she couldn’t see it in that moment.
When God called Jonah to serve the people of Ninevah by warning them to repent of their sins, Jonah didn’t want to do it. He didn’t feel those people were deserving of God’s love. He didn’t feel that God was being just in saving them from destruction.
They were his enemy, so he tried to run. Jonah did end up serving the people of Nineveh, but he sure wasn’t happy about it.
Maybe that’s how you feel about God’s call. Maybe this isn’t something you wanted to take up but you are doing it despite how you feel.
Jonah didn’t receive as many blessings as he might have if he’d brought the same attitude of love for God and for his fellow human beings that Mary did. Instead, he put an entire boat load of people in danger and caused a lot of problems for them because of the way that he handled things.
When our service is done reluctantly or without true compassion for others, we can end up doing as much harm as we do good. God can still use us, but fewer blessings flow to us and through us because of our resistance.
Award-winning international speaker and author, Brandy M. Miller is a Catholic revert. Raised in a culturally Catholic home, she left the faith at 16 in search of the truth and returned 12 years later when she found it right where she left it. Today, she is convinced that the Catholic Church is the cure to society's ills and is eager to help share the Gospel truth to those who have ears to hear it. When she isn't writing for or about the Catholic Church, she offers her writing talents to Catholics who would like help sharing their witnesses of Christ's work in their lives.
