Call on God and He will give you peace

God humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fore-fathers know, that God might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.                Deuteronomy 8:3

I love this verse, “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know.” Several times over our Shrine Mont weekend, I found myself in conversations where this verse rang through. Even after I got home and faced a needful phone call filled with angst and uncertainty, I was answered by this verse, “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know.”

How our lives shift and change. How quickly the opportunities that bring hope and potential transmute into a miasma of doubt and uncertainty. In my sermon last Sunday I spoke about fear—that unwanted, un-looked-for creeping sensation of doom that forbodes failure—even destruction! Why is it so? We all know the answer, it lies deep within us and is a part of us, a result of the fall—self doubt.

Perhaps that is too simplistic. though—self doubt as a result of fear. “Wow, I can't believe I can go, but what if…” “This is amazing! But, what should I do now?” “I was so happy when it happened, but now I am unsure…” It is the future! It is the uncontrolled, wild, untamed future where anything can happen. It is the fruition of, and the destroyer of, all plans. It is the random variable that teeters on the edge of the outcome and it preys upon us.

“He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fore-fathers know.”

God allows us to experience these feeling and face these questions, not that we might suffer, but that we might learn. God is present with us always and, through the Holy Spirit, is available to us for direction and peace. The lesson God sought to teach the children of Israel as they crossed the Sinai desert is the same lesson we are so in need of today.

God humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fore-fathers know, that God might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.

God’s promise is holiness—that wanted, looked-for inflowing sensation of hope and peace. When the "other" shoe feels as if it is going to drop, call on God and seek his face, and he will give you peace.

Seeking God,
Fr. Bill+