Have you ever experienced those times when no matter how hard you prayed, there was no answer to your prayer?
It’s one of the most difficult times you’d ever have.
Most of the time, we can resort to either despair or stubbornness. It’s either we lose all hope or we try to force a miracle into happening.
What we forget is that there is another way.
When there is no answer, we can respect the silence of God.
We don’t need to exhaust ourselves as though the answer to our prayer depends upon our strength alone.
We can instead let things be. We can instead accept that by ourselves, we can do nothing.
We can be still, and we can be still in faith.
Yes, faith that believes in God’s mercy and love. Faith that trusts His wisdom and His power.
We can have this steadfast and silent faith as we wait.
When there is no answer, let us be patient still for God’s reply.
Does He not hear the cries of His children? Will He not come for His little ones?
Our faith may be little, but if we keep it and if we continue to trust, this faith may yet be all we need to move the mountains standing in our way.
“For most certainly I tell you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” – Matthew 17:20, WEBBE
“Lead me, O God, along whatever roads You please; I have placed all my trust in Your will which is, for me, love and mercy itself. Bid me to stay in this convent, I will stay; bid me to undertake the work, I will undertake it; leave me in uncertainty about the work until I die, be blessed; give me death when, humanly speaking, my life seems particularly necessary, be blessed. Should You take me in my youth, be blessed; should You let me live to a ripe old age, be blessed. Should You give me health and strength, be blessed; should You confine me to a bed of pain for my whole life, be blessed. Should you give only failures and disappointments in life, be blessed. Should You allow my purest intentions to be condemned, be blessed. Should You enlighten my mind, be blessed. Should You leave me in darkness and all kinds of (24) torments, be blessed. From this moment on, I live in the deepest peace, because the Lord Himself is carrying me in the hollow of His hand. He, Lord of unfathomable mercy, knows that I desire Him alone in all things, always and everywhere.” – St. Faustina, Divine Mercy In My Soul 1264
The thing about hope is that it’s a positive force that shines the most when it’s dark. When everything’s going well, we hardly notice it’s there. But when things go against us, when our dreams fade and when we see no immediate reprieve from our troubles, that’s when hope does its best work for us.
"Where Hope Can Be Found"