“I fight within you, and I am your endurance. The torment you experience in combat I turn into gold for your benefit and for all those who need to be freed from this plague” (Inner Word).
Today’s phrase encourages us to resist, with God’s help, the various battles we face. Our heavenly Father may allow strong temptations or circumstances to come upon us that are difficult for us to understand. These struggles—and the defeats we sometimes experience—can discourage us. Yet God fights within us and is our endurance. St. Catherine of Siena heard a similar word from the Lord after suffering terrible temptations against purity. God consoled her and helped her understand that it was He Himself who had placed in her heart the repugnance for impurity. In this way, her struggles served to free others from the yoke of this plague.
The Lord turns every struggle and every act of resistance we offer Him into gold, together with the suffering that accompanies it. It is a gold that is never devalued and endures for eternal life. The wisdom of our Father uses it to help others.
In moments of strong temptation, we must call upon our Father. In the depths of our heart, His presence will oppose the powers that tempt us and strengthen our will so that we can unite our resistance to His. This may require great effort from us, but it will make the gold all the more precious and our cooperation all the more meritorious. We can be certain that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our strength (cf. 1 Cor 10:13). He Himself strengthens us and allows us to accumulate merit so that we may cooperate in the liberation of others.
Such is our Father!