“Never let yourself be discouraged. Our eyes are on you, and we will not allow more to happen to you than you can bear” (Inner Word).
In our journey of following the Lord, situations may arise in which we need these words especially. Sometimes – or even often – our Father allows things to happen that are difficult to face, whether on a personal level or in the world and in the Church. These are crosses that we have to bear, the meaning of which we find difficult to understand and which we can only overcome through faith. In such circumstances it is easy to become discouraged. But when this happens, temptation has achieved one of its goals. A discouraged soldier of the Lord can easily be dissuaded from doing what those difficult circumstances would allow him to offer for the Kingdom of God. We must therefore accept crosses as coming from the hand of God, learn to bear them and make them fruitful. We can always ask the Lord to teach us.
What else can help us in such situations? The second part of today’s word assures us that our Father sees us when we suffer under the cross, and that He allows only what we can bear to come upon us. We can hold on to this assurance when we feel that difficulties are beyond our capacity. This goes hand in hand with a naked act of trust, without yet understanding why the Lord has allowed such a cross. Eventually, we will understand and gratefully acknowledge that He has allowed it for our salvation.
In the meantime, the cross can bear great fruit if we carry it with confidence and do not allow ourselves to be discouraged, even if we find it difficult. It is a participation in the Cross of our Lord, and it is from this that the greatness of the fruit is derived. And we will see that it is part of our Father’s love to allow the cross to come to us and to mature us through it.