2 Kings 4:1-7: Deep Trust
Saturday, September 29, 2018
Written on March 20 and posted today as a Favorite . . .
A reflection I read recently pointed out that genuine faith is not blind obedience; rather it is a deep trust in the revealed Christ. When we receive the Gospel story as coming from God – and not just as a narrative from one of Jesus’ followers – we will naturally raise our limbs to the light to welcome the Spirit into our hearts, and we will put down deep roots in the conviction that God can neither deceive nor be deceived. Once we allow ourselves to risk believing that God’s love precludes deceit, overcomes all pain, and converts all suffering, we begin to feel the growth of an enduring and unshakable trust deep within.
The widow who complains to Elisha in today’s Noontime acts in faith – not blindly in obedience, but actively trusting, certain that God will fulfill her needs through the prophet. “Bring me another vessel,” she says to her son; yet when none arrives and when the oil stops, there is enough oil for her to eliminate her debt and feed her children. God provides.
From Jeremiah 17:7-8: Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: It fears not the heat when it comes, its leaves stay green; in the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit.
From Psalm 1:1-3: Happy those who do not follow the counsel of the wicked, nor go the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers. Rather, the law of the Lord is their joy; God’s law they study day and night. They are like a tree planted near streams of water that yields its fruit in season; its leaves never wither; whatever they do prospers.
Job 18:16 describes the wicked man as one whose roots dry up below and branches wither above.
Maxfield Parrish: Riverbank in Autumn
Sirach 11:20-21: Hold fast to your duty, busy yourself with it, grow old while doing your task. Admire not how sinners live, but trust in the Lord and wait for his light.
The desert is a dry and barren place yet even in the arid terrain there is life – for God is everywhere. The widow in today’s story understands this fact. She has so little that she and her children will perish. Elisha speaks to her and through this prophet God works a miracle that rescues her not only for that one day, but for all of her days. The widow allows her life and the lives of her children to be transformed, not merely changed. She stays close to God, the living water. She puts down deep, trusting roots. She shelters her children beneath the leaves that spring forth in a dry season.
God provides . . . even, and especially, in the desert. God transforms . . . even, and especially, when we feel that all is lost. God reveals himself . . . even, and especially, when we are at our lowest point.
From yesterday’s MAGNIFICAT Evening Prayer Mini-reflection: God is very present in the deserts of our lives. It is in the desert that God revealed himself to Abraham. It is in our dryness and desolation that God is often working the most marvelous transformations. Let us rejoice in this blessed desert of Lent where Christ reveals himself.
A re-post from August 28, 2011.
Images from: http://frankordaz.blogspot.com/2011/04/on-easter.html
Cameron, Peter John, Rev., ed. “Mini-Reflection.” MAGNIFICAT. 19 March 2011. Print.
The Noontimes 