It is difficult to find something as important for the spiritual life as trust in God. In all situations of our life we have to activate this trust, so that it becomes that inner certainty that permeates everything. In this way, our spiritual path becomes lighter and more attractive to others. We will therefore dedicate the next two meditations to this theme: trust in God.
The love of our Heavenly Father illuminates everything. It is the true light, which has manifested itself in a special way in the coming of the Son of God into the world. Through His words and deeds, Jesus wants to show us this great truth: No one will be able to tear us away from God! Thus, the Lord invites us to abandon ourselves confidently into the Father’s hands.
In fact, this is the wonderful response that we can give to His love. Moreover, this is what corresponds to the truth of our existence, for there can be nothing more coherent than to abandon ourselves to the One who created us, who redeemed us, and whose great love we will be able to receive to the full in eternity. All the faithful will be able to understand and confirm this simple truth…
However, it is not always easy for us to trust. In fact, that original trust that existed in paradise between humankind and God was deeply disturbed after the sin of our first parents. The Devil continued to work at transmitting to us a false image of God. Already in Paradise he wanted to convince us that God deprives us of desirable goods, and to this day he continues to do his best to create in us a false image of the Father (cf. Gen 3:1-15).
To this deception of the Devil must be added the various human experiences in which the trust we had placed in certain people was defrauded; the insecurities of life; and many other wounds. We probably project many of these bad experiences onto our relationship with God.
In this sense, it is all the more important to recover and deepen our trust in God, so that it becomes a real conviction that sustains us in all situations of life. In the school of trust, we will learn to understand that even difficult circumstances are permitted by God for our good (cf. Rom 8:28).
This conviction, however, must not remain on the level of a theoretical knowledge that we have learned from Sacred Scripture; it must penetrate us completely and be put into practice in every concrete situation of life.
Not only is it important for us to recover and deepen our trust in God, but God Himself takes great pleasure in people’s trust in Him. This attitude of ours unlocks His saving action and opens the door through which He wants to give Himself to us.
It is enough to look at our human experience to understand this reality. When we place our trust in a person, we are strengthening them, because they will not want to let us down. Likewise, if someone trusts us, we are ‘obliged’, so to speak, to reciprocate this trust. Certainly God does not need this kind of “obligation”, but, by having a truly trusting attitude towards Him, His love can reach us as we remove the barriers that prevent Him from communicating with us. Furthermore, the intimate relationship with God is deepened and established on a solid foundation.
Thus, trust is the most appropriate attitude we can have towards God; a great confidence in His infinite love, which is stronger than our sins, weaknesses and frailties; an unshakable trust in God’s love, which far surpasses any human love.
Let us now take a look at the omnipotence of God. We must really keep it in mind, for, as Sacred Scripture teaches us, “nothing is impossible with God” (cf. Lk 1:37). We can learn to apply this certainty to situations that seem to have no way out. Let us think, for example, of the global reality of the world, which is so entangled that we see no solution, and that gives the impression that evil has the upper hand. From a purely human perspective, it would be understandable if our reaction would be resignation.
But we should not stop there; rather we should turn to God through prayer. In this way, we put aside our human assessments and express our trust in Him: He has everything in His hands and He will know how to bring it to a successful conclusion, despite human resistance, sin, and all the influence of demonic forces… Evil will not triumph forever, even if for a time it seems that it will!
The Omnipotence of God does not only come into play in relation to external difficulties, but we can also apply this certainty to our inner reality, to family circumstances, etc.
Let us remember that at every instant God has His gaze upon us, guiding and accompanying us as a loving Father. Even if we do not feel His presence and even if it seems to us that He is far away, faith and trust in Him will open our eyes to the true reality. Wherever we go, we can count on God’s love and mercy, which shine upon us like the sun, even if clouds cover it. God has called us by name through Christ: we are His (cf. Is 43:1). He asks us for our love which we can express to Him precisely through our faith and trust.