Reprint of an April 2009 Did you know that....? column
April 15, 2011
April 15, 2011
Originally Published on April 4th, 2009
Did you know that... when the burden of the manifesting realities begins to weigh you down, the best thing to do, next to prayer, is to review the Biblical Prophecies and Promises Regarding the Return of Christ. (1)
We know that those are truths, and they are indeed His promises. Do not let the evil one get you down - arm yourself with unshakable Faith and march on triumphantly in His Most Holy Name!
Recently (Spring 2009) we received a letter from a long time reader and Family member. It follows [edited for publication]:
I trusted in God when I feared the loss of my job. You commended me. My job is gone.
I have trusted in God to help me find another. My wife and I are facing bankruptcy. I can find no work.
I fear my Rosaries are in vain.
My car died today.
I wonder where God is, and why He has turned His back on me.
You once said I was obviously one of His elect. I think mistakes have been made.
I don't even believe in the pills the psychiatrist gives me.
I can't afford them anyway.
I'm tired, and there is no hope, at least not for me.
I have trusted in God to help me find another. My wife and I are facing bankruptcy. I can find no work.
I fear my Rosaries are in vain.
My car died today.
I wonder where God is, and why He has turned His back on me.
You once said I was obviously one of His elect. I think mistakes have been made.
I don't even believe in the pills the psychiatrist gives me.
I can't afford them anyway.
I'm tired, and there is no hope, at least not for me.
His letter made miguel de Portugal (m de P) realize that perhaps far too many of our readers thought that we spoke about Faith without having taken it to great limits. Therefore, focusing on his particular concerns (2), we shared with him a small part of the experiences m de P had to live through as part of his "on the job training". m de P's response to this, our brother, was thus [edited for publication]:
Believe it or not the man who went on to become m de P ("I" henceforth) went through all of
that and more. Not only I faced bankruptcy - I had to file
for bankruptcy!
In the late eighties, with $ 5,000 dollars of payments due every month, I found myself with only fifty dollars on hand, paying credit cards with credit cards and no employment of any kind (not even as a store clerk - I was far grossly overqualified), but I knew that God was testing me and I trusted Him.
A very close and trusted business associate betrayed me and defaulted on a very large debt (3) - and my "church going friends" of the past, as it is usually the case, turned their backs on me. They would not even purchase an ashtray in a massive "garage" sale of all household goods the future m de P eventually had to hold. The few "friends" who came to browse did so just to sneer.
When all was so black that I could not even see the blackness, I steadfastly held to Him and the Rosary. I knew that He would not fail me.
Once He deemed that I had showed enough Faith in Him, the faucets of plenty were opened.... and open they were!
When, a few years later, God said to me: "Leave all and follow Me" - I was in the best financial, professional and social position I had ever been in my whole life - with new high yielding engineering projects pouring in - but I trusted God and left all behind - willingly, not because I had no other choice or nothing to lose, worldly speaking, that is - and followed Him.
What else can I say?
Perhaps that 20 years later I look back and have no regrets about placing my complete trust in God.
m de P
In the late eighties, with $ 5,000 dollars of payments due every month, I found myself with only fifty dollars on hand, paying credit cards with credit cards and no employment of any kind (not even as a store clerk - I was far grossly overqualified), but I knew that God was testing me and I trusted Him.
A very close and trusted business associate betrayed me and defaulted on a very large debt (3) - and my "church going friends" of the past, as it is usually the case, turned their backs on me. They would not even purchase an ashtray in a massive "garage" sale of all household goods the future m de P eventually had to hold. The few "friends" who came to browse did so just to sneer.
When all was so black that I could not even see the blackness, I steadfastly held to Him and the Rosary. I knew that He would not fail me.
Once He deemed that I had showed enough Faith in Him, the faucets of plenty were opened.... and open they were!
When, a few years later, God said to me: "Leave all and follow Me" - I was in the best financial, professional and social position I had ever been in my whole life - with new high yielding engineering projects pouring in - but I trusted God and left all behind - willingly, not because I had no other choice or nothing to lose, worldly speaking, that is - and followed Him.
What else can I say?
Perhaps that 20 years later I look back and have no regrets about placing my complete trust in God.
m de P
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NOTES
(2) There are so many other areas where God had demanded that m de P prove to Him his Faith
that, a full length book could be written just covering them.
(3) The only way to recoup the enormous loss would have been a nasty law suit, but that is
not God's way - considering the alluded to business partner was the mother of my children [And if
a man will contend with thee in judgment, and take away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him.
Matthew 5:40]
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