SAME SITUATIONS, DIFFERENT REACTIONS

“He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Mt 5:45)

This morning I woke up to the sound of heavy rain, and thought: How nice and soothing. It’s raining! And then I thought of this passage from the Gospel, and how rain is a sign of God’s love for both the righteous and the unrighteous.

But there have been mornings when I woke up to the sound of rain, and thought: Yuck. It’s raining. How gloomy everything looks, and now I have to find my umbrella, and traffic will be bad, and so on.

My different reactions to the same weather remind me that external things, - like the weather, or certain situations, or other people’s behavior, - these things are not actual reasons for my own reactions and state of mind. If I feel disturbed by something or someone, my “problem” is inside me. More specifically, I am missing that complementary action of God’s grace, which helps me turn things around and see my world in His light.

On days like that, although I can’t get myself back on track, I know that God can. I humbly ask Him for His grace, and hand things over to His will. “Thy will be done,” I say, and “Thy kingdom come.” This way, I at least don’t misdirect my frustration and “bad mood” on other things or people, or on myself, in a destructive manner. He can, and does, open my eyes to see both the sun and the rain with gratitude, both as signs of His grace.

#reactions