He Made Us Human

A Reflection on the Second Reading for December 13th, 2020:
​Third Sunday of Advent

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1 Thessalonians
5.16-24

Brothers and sisters, rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of Prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.
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Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

As I look at the list of dispositions that Saint Paul cites here in his letter to the Thessalonians, I think about the times when my life has reflected them — and the times when it has not.

I am the mother of eight children who, right now, range in age from 23 to 10 years old. I am enjoying these ages more than I did the toddler years (even though half of them are teenagers). I find myself rejoicing more and giving thanks for how good God is to us. When they were “littles” I don’t remember giving thanks as much. Actually, I call them “the years of the fog” because I don’t remember much at all! What I do remember, though, is praying without ceasing. I like to joke that that’s how they all survived.

Some days I feel like the Holy Spirit is alive and well in me. Other days, I definitely feel like I’m quenching Him. I also tend to despise the words of the prophets, especially when they predict war, famine, and plague. I’m not always good at abstaining from every form of evil but I regularly hold fast to what is good.

My point is that God made us human. He didn’t make us perfect. He knows the places in our lives where we are weak and He wants to use those weaknesses for good. Don’t beat yourself up over the times that you’ve failed but let God speak into those failures to bring light and growth into your life. He, the God of Peace will be the One who gives us the grace we need to do all of these things that Saint Paul describes. When we try to do them on our own we fail repeatedly, but it is in Jesus, our Saviour, that we can be found blameless on His return.

So take heart!

“The One who calls you is faithful and He will do this”.
 



​Maxine Brown
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