STANDING BEFORE GOD

When I was pregnant with Peter, all the ultrasound results showed he was in a breached  position. Month after month, his position did not change. Until the last month of my pregnancy, when ultrasound had to be taken weekly, ’twas all the same.

Two months before his birth, my OB-GYN Dr. Muniz said I had to have a C-section. I did not want it because if you see a person scared of procedures, it was me. I dreaded every needle that went through me. I had to endure them only because they were necessary. So I had to condition myself for 2 months that I would go through a major operation. But if I had a choice, I wouldn’t.

Scheduled date for delivery was July 16, 2007. I did not eat from 12 midnight. I was admitted to the hospital at 7:00 a.m. Every prep was done, including the talk with the Anaethesiologist. In fact, I was asked to choose whether I would want full (meaning asleep through the procedure) or awake and numb from the spine down. I remember John and I arguing about it for I want not to be awake which will leave him out of the picture. He wants to be involved in the delivery.

At about 12:30 p.m. (Dr. Muniz was late), he said “let’s do a last-minute ultrasound”. He exclaimed “the baby has turned! we will schedule for a normal delivery at 3:00 p.m.!

My friends, there are things beyond our control. It is only God’s business. In fact, whether we will have a baby or not is not our choice. No matter how much we try, it is only God who can give us babies.

Have you been in a situation where you’ve done all your best; all tried and tested means yet it did not yield the expected result? But when you called on God to help, something miraculously happens?

Today’s reading tells of Peter and his friends, professional fishermen who have done all they could but did not catch anything. But when Jesus told them where to lower their nets, they could not carry what they caught. It was overflowing.

This is very important for us because we always thought that we can do everything; that things happen because of our doing. There is a bigger presence behind everything that happens good. It is only when we are standing before God where good things come to pass.We have to learn to acknowledge that God is that presence, and He causes all good things to happen. He causes the sun to shine and the rain to pour over every one, whether good or bad. That is how much He loves us.

The sooner we realize this, the better it is for us. God’s grace is given to everyone for free (not really, since Jesus had to die) and those who choose to come follow Him and trust their lives to the Lord becomes a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. That means Jesus is always with us.

Like Peter and the apostles, we were also called to be fishers of men. We as Christians have a duty to gather souls for the kingdom of God. The more blessed we are, the more we want others to have what we want also.

And if the devil whispers all the alibis he can think of to prevent us from doing our role as Christians, always remember that we are standing before God. He is our source of strength, joy and happiness. We can do all things through Him who gives us strength (Phil. 4:13)  If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)

“Most loving Jesus, help us realize that we can do nothing on our own. Apart from You, we can do nothing; we are nothing. May this also make us remember that we are not better than anyone else. We are all sinners, we just sin differently. And may we always seek you earnestly and ask forgiveness in those times we give in to temptation. Amen.”

Meditation: Luke 5:1-11

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening
to the word of God,
he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret.
He saw two boats there alongside the lake;
the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets.
Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon,
he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore.
Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said in reply,
“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets.”
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish
and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat
to come to help them.
They came and filled both boats
so that the boats were in danger of sinking.
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said,
“Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him
and all those with him,
and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
who were partners of Simon.
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid;
from now on you will be catching men.”
When they brought their boats to the shore,
they left everything and followed him.

–that in all things God may be glorified