For the Lord's Glory and Your Salvation. Thursday, May 29. 2014.

Sometimes Jesus might lead us down paths that have seemingly never been traveled.

Or He might ask us to do something that we automatically dub as crazy.

Or maybe we understand Jesus’ plan for us

but the rest of the human race looks at us like we are insane.

Sometimes Jesus’ perfect plan doesn’t fit in with the template that the world has prescribed.

I know that I have be called to do some things in my life that cause people to question,

to accuse,

or to give funny looks.

My response tends to be

‘Jesus told me to do it.’

This response often gets as many funny looks as the action itself.

The reality is,

Christ might call us out of our personal comfort zones,

He might ask things of us that we are reluctant to do,

He very well may challenge every fiber in our being.

But praise God.

The challenge is good.

The challenge will only be for His glory

and for your salvation.

St. Catherine of Siena had some pretty amazing conversations with Our Lord.

Our Lord told St. Catherine that the paths He would ask her to take

wouldn’t be the most traveled of paths,

but rather,

the road much less traveled.

Our Lord said that even those who loved Catherine dearly would doubt her way of life.

There would be those who would formulate lies about Catherine

and there would be those who would oppose of her life choices.

The doubt

and the lies

and the opposition

were not to be an easy load to carry.

Not at all.

In fact,

it was a burden that might cause fear and anxiety

but the Lord consoled Catherine.

He said to not be afraid or anxious for He was to be with her.

He would keep her soul free from evil and from lies.

The doubt

and the lies

and the opposition

that we receive in our own lives

for choosing Christ’s path is not easy.

It’s hard.

In fact,

sometimes it is enough to choose to NOT follow Christ’s path.

Sometimes all the backlash from the world

seems more intimidating than the joy of following Christ.

We ourselves begin to doubt,

we begin to believe the lies,

and we rage this battle within ourselves

one side desiring to follow Christ

and the other firm in opposition.

Even through our own time of doubt and struggle,

the Lord is still using the journey for His glory

and for our salvation.

He reminded St. Catherine that He had a glorious purpose for following His path.

“Carry out undauntedly whatever the Spirit prompts you to do, for through you I shall snatch many souls from the jaws of hell and by my grace transport them to the kingdom of Heaven.”

The Life of St. Catherine of Siena

The Lord was to use St. Catherine’s obedience to His will 
to keep souls from the fires of hell.

We cannot even begin to fathom

the ways in which the Lord might use our lives for His glory

if we are willing to follow His plan for us,

if we are willing to take the path less traveled,

if we are willing to submit to His most holy will.

How might the Lord be able to use your life

for His glory and your salvation?