Everything Becomes a Grace

     “The most important and most fruitful acts of our freedom are not those by which we transform the outside world as those by which we change our inner attitude in the light of faith that God can bring good out of everything without exception. He is a never-failing source of ultimate riches. Our lives no longer have in them anything negative, ordinary, or indifferent. Positive things become a reason for gratitude and joy, negative things an opportunity for abandonment, faith, and offering: everything becomes a grace.”                                                                                                                                                                                                        Fr. Jacques Phillipe



     That God can bring good out of everything that happens – without exception – is a life-changing attitude to work toward achieving. Father Jacques did not come up with this notion himself. Our good God clearly stated this in His Holy Scripture through St. Paul: “We know that all things work for good for those who love God” (Rom. 8 vs. 28). All does mean everything – without exception – so why do we struggle so much with believing this to be true?


     It could be we have our own idea of what “good” is and when events occur that do not fall into our “good” category, we immediately lose our footing. We are no longer standing on a firm foundation of faith and trust in God, but on the sandy, mushy foundation of doubt. Like walking in quicksand, we struggle and begin to sink, unable to free ourselves from our ominous imagination. We feel stuck and afraid in the present situation; seeing it from our limited mind and not from God’s vantage. We forget that since Papa has allowed this to happen, it is somehow for our good, and will be turned into those “ultimate riches” that Father Jacques proclaims. For us of weakened faith, accepting this is a difficult task.

     We can begin to move towards this abiding trust in God, by taking baby steps. Start with the ordinary daily happenings in our lives. Take each moment as it comes, remembering that God is right there with us. When something happens that is delightful, thank Him. When we come upon a bump in the road of our day, or when a monkey wrench is thrown in the works, remember He is there. Shoot out a quick cry to God for the grace of patience and trust. When our day is just ordinary, with nothing much different in it, thank Him: there are times in our lives when we've longed for a day like that; times when our world was falling apart and we would have exchanged it for and ordinary day in a heartbeat!

    Believe that our life is a canvas by which God is painting a magnificent masterpiece. He must use bright bold colors, pretty pastel colors, muted colors, as well as deep dark colors. Every event in our lives has its own perfect “hue” and God, the master artist, knows how to apply each color and brush stroke. He knows where and when to apply the colors to enable it to become the work of art that He beholds; but we must learn to trust that He knows what He’s doing.

     Gaining this type of freedom in our lives is possible. It will take a tremendous amount of grace from God, along with openness on our part, to cooperate and move in that grace. We must make a concerted effort and persevere through adversity. We will sometimes fail while trying to achieve our goal. Do not get discouraged! When you fall, cry out, “Papa!” Ask Him to pick you up and reassure you of His great love for you. Listen as He whispers in your ear just how beautiful you, His great masterpiece, are. Do not throw the canvas away, believing it to be worthless. God must use those dark colors – those hard times of our lives, our failures and disappointments -- to bring richness to His precious work.

     If we stand fast and believe that God is God and can bring good from everything – in His perfect timing – we will be set free from the roughness of the roller coaster rides of life. We will move into a gentle peace as we practice abandonment to God’s Providence. Maintain peace with a firm faith that God is with us. Trusting that God is a never-failing source of ultimate riches, we are able to lay down our will on the altar of sacrifice. “Not My will but Yours be done” (Lk. 22 vs 42b).

    Looking back at our lives, we can see the paths God took were more bountiful than we could have ever imagined. What was at the time confusing and painful became the reason for gratitude and joy. Coming to this realization, we will live in freedom as each opportunity in our lives becomes a grace.