212th Meditation
“Go forward calmly into the dark future. Know that in this dark night you walk at the hand of a loving God” (St. Arnold Janssen).
These words give us clear direction. Whatever may be and no matter what happens, the hand of our loving God will not let go of us. In this certainty we must be grounded, without being tempted to focus too much on the darkness of the present time and that which may yet come, for then we would already be absorbed by it.
Our Father will never abandon His children. If He allows darkness – which is often a consequence of sin – at the same time He helps us to face it and even allows us to grow in faith and trust through it.
A true friend is recognised because he does not leave us alone in the midst of difficulty. It is the same with our Father, who does not abandon us in these times of tribulation, but reaches out to us. He is both our Father and our friend.
What is decisive is that we seek Him, and that we do not try to overcome situations by merely human means, however uncertain they may be and even if we do not know what lies ahead. It is precisely then that we must rely on God’s loving help and know that in Him there will always be a way out, there will always be an open road.
This “open way of God”, which is Himself, is the sure path on which He will lead us if we surrender ourselves to Him without reserve. This is the best answer we can give! Then we will see that all our insecurities, all our attempts to find a solution on our own, will give way, and the security of love will grow in the depths of our being. Then we will no longer place our security in ourselves, but in the Lord.
This is also the great lesson we can learn from the difficult situations in our lives: God guides us in all darkness. We need not be afraid! Grounded in trust, we can move calmly into an uncertain and dark future. God holds it in His hands, and He is the source of light!
God will use everything for the good of His own (cf. Rom 8:28), and so even the passage through a dark night becomes a blessing if we confidently cling to the hand of our Father.