PROPER BALANCE
Faith in God is
founded on the realization that we are dependent upon Him; it is a realistic
recognition that we come from God and continue in existence because of
"Our Father."
In
today's first reading from the prophet Ezekiel, the prince of Tyre shows his
pride and self-satisfaction, and his wisdom and wealth are sufficient to merit
a very harsh reprimand from God through Ezekiel. Oftentimes, you and I can
think that we are the ultimate controllers of everything and everyone, tempting
us to think of ourselves as gods. Even in our own homes and having satisfaction
with our possessions and achievements may be enough to warrant God's rebuke.
On
whatever scale we operate, we are all susceptible to the desire to put
ourselves in the place of God; many times we might not even be aware of it. We
need to continually challenge ourselves to put all that we have or can do into
the care of our heavenly Father. Faith in God is founded on the realization
that we are dependent upon Him; it is a realistic recognition that we come from
God and continue in existence because of "Our Father."
Scripture
doesn't teach us to be dependent on God in a childish way; rather, the key is
to be "child like." We are maturing daily under His guidance, and we
have an honest acceptance of the fact that we are not our own creator. Our
pursuit of security and adequate means never, in God's mind, negate our need of
God as our Father. For us as a Christian people, the necessary pursuit of
sustenance for ourselves, our families and those around us in daily life, never
becomes the sole and absolute purpose of life. We only contribute to what
remains, which is basically our heavenly
Father's work that sustains our lives.
We
can learn a lot from Psalm 46:10: "Be still, and know that I am God!"