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Often what we want is different from what we need — or what is good for us.
Consider this recent exchange in my household, where we’ve been striving to be more health conscious.
“What would you like me to get at the grocery store?” I asked my husband, my pencil hovering over the grocery list.
“A 16-ounce steak, egg nog, and bacon,” he said, laughing.
“I might as well give you a heart attack on a stick,” I said.
“Oh yeah, and corn dogs,” he replied.
I wrote down “avocados” and “spinach” instead.
Knowing what we need
Sometimes our loved ones know better than we do, and can point out what our limited sinful vision can’t see.
In the same way, God gives us what we need, not what we want — like any loving Father would do.
He knows best, what is healthy for us.
“Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:11-13)
Eating the right foods is a physical way for us to be healthier, but think of the ways God challenges us in our spiritual health.
Maybe His challenge is as simple as a gentle call to spend more time in prayer, or maybe it’s as difficult as journeying with a suffering loved one.
Sometimes these challenges are nearly impossible to accept, but by God’s own design and in ways known only to Him these challenges can strengthen our spiritual lives and draw us closer to Him in the end.
Appreciation for God
In this month of showing loved ones our appreciation, think of the ways God shows His love for us — sometimes in ways difficult for us to accept.
He gave us the ultimate love — the sacrifice of His own Son — so that we might join Him in heaven one day.
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
If He gave us the greatest gift, how can we possibly return that, except with the gift of our own lives?
This February, contemplate not only how He constantly shows His love for us, but how we can actively grow closer to Him:
• By prayerfully giving Him our best, our actions, our lives each day.
• By praying for the grace to accept His will and the courage to cooperate with it.
• By thanking Him when He is trying to help us grow spiritually healthier with each of life’s trials and teaching us to depend more fully on Him.
One thing we’ve discovered about healthy foods is that the more you eat the good stuff, the more you begin to like it.
Our Father — who yearns for us to foster our spiritual health — knows this.
And if you constantly make the healthy choice of coming to Him in gratitude — especially for all of your challenges — the more you’ll grow in love with Him, the only source of life.
Julianne Nornberg, mother of four young children, is a member of St. John the Baptist Parish, Waunakee.