Humble, Me?

"The true reason for which God bestows so many graces upon the humble is this, that the humble are faithful to these graces and make good use of them. They receive them from God and use them in a manner pleasing to God, giving all the glory to Him, without reserving any for themselves. ... It is certainly true that he who is humble is also faithful to God, because the humble man is also just in giving to all their due, and above all, in rendering to God the things that are God's; that is, in giving Him the glory for all the good that he is, all the good that he has and for all the good that he does; as the Venerable Bede says: 'Whatever good we see in ourselves, let us ascribe it to God and not to ourselves.' To give thanks to God for all the blessings we have received and are continually receiving is an excellent means of exercising humility, because by thanksgiving we learn to acknowledge the Supreme Giver of every good. And for this reason it is necessary for us always to be humble before God. St. Paul exhorts us to render thanks for all things and at all times: 'In all things give thanks.' (1 Thess. 5:18). 'Giving thanks always for all things.' (Eph. 5:20). But that our thanksgiving may be an act of humility it must not only come from the lips but from the heart, with a firm conviction that all good comes to us through the infinite mercy of God."

— Rev. Cajetan da Bergamo, Humility of Heart, p. 87-8

Oh, my goodness

I am reflecting on the Goodness of God. I am realizing that our current thinking or at least the thinking in evangelical Christian circles is very shallow. When I hear modern Christians talk about the goodness of God it is in very pragmatic ways. It sounds like this - "God is good. God has blessed me with...." The saints of old would find this a very strange perspective. For these saints to speak of the goodness of God is to speak of God's very essence or nature. They do not speak of God's goodness, rather, they speak of the goodness of God. The difference is significant. You can talk about a hurricane's power or the power of a hurricane; the former speaks to the effect or result of the hurricane; the latter speaks to the very nature of a hurricane which is power.

When we experience suffering, we need perspective which speaks of the goodness of God not God's goodness. If we do the latter we search for some meaning in the suffering - a search which may not be ever satisfied. If we move from the perspective of the goodness of God, our suffering becomes revelatory, that is , we can begin to examine where God is to be seen in our suffering. The goodness of God is the ground of our lives including our suffering. - Ronald Friesen (c) 2017

Let me be a little cottage...

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."

— C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 205