Is your heart open to God’s absolute love?
Job believed he had done everything right: he had lived the life of a righteous man and had tried hard not to sin. And yet he is allotted months of misery and troubled nights; he is left without crops or flocks, children or health, indeed, without hope, because God saw fit to test him. Consequently, Job is having difficulty finding God in any aspect of his life. Moreover, although he talks to God frequently, it’s really a one-sided conversation in which Job has no real connection to God, he simply projects onto God all that he has in his own heart. Job has an idea of who God is and what God is about and God is violating that idea. And so, Job’s heart is closed. He is not ready to understand, as Psalm 147 explains, that The Lord heals the brokenhearted. Job is not ready to praise the Lord, though ultimately the Lord will be good to Job.
In Mark’s Gospel, having spent days healing and preaching and teaching, Jesus remains open to the need before him, healing not only Simon’s mother-in-law but also all who were brought to him, even after the sun has gone down. Jesus’ first action upon rising very early before dawn is to pray, opening himself to his Father and being empowered for the day to come; he is armed with infinite love, and opens his heart in love to all. His ministry begins in love; people follow him because there is absolute love here. Jesus is the very presence of God, revealing God to all whose lives he touches, open to all who are in need. Following in the steps of Jesus, Paul tells the Corinthians that the grace of God is all gift: he is there, preaching to them, teaching them, revealing God’s love in work in him as well, free of charge to all who need it. God is a mystery we can never get enough of, a revelation we will never entirely plumb the depths of – yet, so long as our heart remains open to his revelation, ready to receive his love, we may continue to have the hope that so eludes Job, hopeful that we, like Paul, may have a share in redemption.
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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