You don't have to do it by yourself

From the Rule of Saint Benedict:

What is not possible to us by nature, let us ask the Lord to supply by the help of his grace. (Prologue:41)

I remember an old monk who often said, “All is grace, brothers, all is grace.”

Think of it: How have you gotten to where you are at this point in your life? Assuming that your own situation is good, and not lost in the mire of evil, we have to ask, “Did you do it with your own powers? Did it all depend on you alone? How about those times when God truly lifted you up and helped you to break through your own natural limitations to say or do or think something that you never would have dreamed you could say or do or think?”

In this passage, Benedict is consoling the monk who, having come to terms with what God is expecting of one who would be able to dwell with him “in his tent,” is tempted to turn away, knowing full well that what is asked of him is going to demand that he triumph over his own state in life, his natural tendencies, his weaknesses, his sinfulness, his resistance, his hesitation.

Think of the story of the young rich man who asked the Lord what he needed to do and the Lord told him to sell all his possessions and give to the poor and then come and follow him. Do you remember that the young man “turned away sadly” because he didn’t think himself capable of doing what the Lord asked of him? His richness, and his clinging to it, was a barrier that he didn’t think himself capable of surmounting. And he was right. By himself, he could not make the leap into a new life, and he didn’t seem to realize that he wouldn’t have to do it on his own. And so he turned away. (Matthew 19:16-22)  I guess he didn’t know the psalms well enough. Psalm 18:

You, O Lord, are my lamp,

my God who lightens my darkness.

With you I can break through any barrier,

with my God I can scale any wall. (Psalm 18:29-30)

(I love it when we pray those verses at Morning Prayer!)

What makes you or me turn away from what God is asking us? Why do we hesitate? What do we resist? If we could only realize that at all times God’s love and grace are within us and that we can turn within to claim the power he gives to us, a power that we don’t necessarily deserve! Never forget that: Grace is not something you earn: it is a freely given gift from God.

We forget this so easily, my friends. We simply forget. We try to do too much on our own.

Stop it. Claim the grace that is there for you, especially during any moment of challenge or trial. What is not yours by nature, let God help you with his grace.

God bless you!