You Should Not Despair - Nor Give Up
and
This IS Why
and
This IS Why
PURPOSE
The purpose of this brief document is to remind one and all the Word of God is the solid rock upon which we must build our lives. At times some may feel that He has turned His back on them while, instead, He is actually helping us to rise from the mire that we have fallen into and continue to wallow in.
INTRODUCTION
When the burden of the day to day 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, who God may allow to test you as He did with Job, get you down. Arm yourself with unshakable Faith in God and march on triumphantly in His Most Holy Name!
DETAILS
We received a letter from a long time reader. It follows [edited for publication]:
I trusted in God, as you recommended, when I feared the loss of my job. 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 us realize that perhaps far too many of our readers think that we speak about Faith without having lived it to great limits. Therefore, focusing on his particular concerns (2), we are sharing with our readers what we shared with him - a small part of the experiences that miguel de Portugal had to live through as part of the tests he had to undergo to prove to God his fidelity and faith.
Our response to this, our brother, was thus [edited for publication]:
Believe it or not the man who went on to become miguel de Portugal went through all of that
and more. Not only he faced bankruptcy - he had to file for
bankruptcy!
In the late eighties, with $ 5,000 dollars of payments due every month, he found himself with only fifty dollars on hand. He was paying credit cards with credit cards and no employment of any kind opened up (not even as a store clerk for he was grossly overqualified), but miguel knew that God was testing him and he trusted Him.
A former close and trusted business associate betrayed him and defaulted on a very large debt (3) - and his "church going friends" of the past, as it is usually the case with many of these hypocrites, turned their backs on him. They would not even purchase an ashtray in a massive "garage sale" (of all household goods) miguel eventually had to hold. The few "friends" who came to browse did so just to sneer.
When all was so black that he could not even see the blackness, miguel steadfastly held to Him and the Rosary. miguel knew that God would not fail him.
Once He deemed that miguel had showed enough Faith in Him, the faucets of plenty were opened.... and open they were!
When, a few years later, God said to miguel: "Leave all and follow Me - he was in the best financial, professional and social position he had ever been in his whole life - with new high yielding engineering projects pouring in - but miguel trusted God and left all behind - willingly, not because he had nothing to lose - and followed Him.
In the late eighties, with $ 5,000 dollars of payments due every month, he found himself with only fifty dollars on hand. He was paying credit cards with credit cards and no employment of any kind opened up (not even as a store clerk for he was grossly overqualified), but miguel knew that God was testing him and he trusted Him.
A former close and trusted business associate betrayed him and defaulted on a very large debt (3) - and his "church going friends" of the past, as it is usually the case with many of these hypocrites, turned their backs on him. They would not even purchase an ashtray in a massive "garage sale" (of all household goods) miguel eventually had to hold. The few "friends" who came to browse did so just to sneer.
When all was so black that he could not even see the blackness, miguel steadfastly held to Him and the Rosary. miguel knew that God would not fail him.
Once He deemed that miguel had showed enough Faith in Him, the faucets of plenty were opened.... and open they were!
When, a few years later, God said to miguel: "Leave all and follow Me - he was in the best financial, professional and social position he had ever been in his whole life - with new high yielding engineering projects pouring in - but miguel trusted God and left all behind - willingly, not because he had nothing to lose - and followed Him.
CONCLUSION
God will not fail anyone, but we must believe; we must trust in His unadulterated Word.
I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be
yours. [Mark 11:24]
and then
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive,
and your joy will be complete. [John 16:24]
What else could we add? Just believe!
NOTES
(2) There are so many other areas where God had demanded that miguel proved to Him
his loyalty, 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 was not God's way in this particular case. The "former close and trusted business associate"
was the mother of miguel's children. [... if a man will contend with thee in judgment, and take
away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him.
(Matthew 5:40)]
Related Documents
Do not despair! Do not give up! It is one step at a time!
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Spiritual Dysfunction - Its Identification, Treatment and Cure
Why Do Some of God's Chosen Ones Must Suffer? - Redemptive Suffering
Don't despair, even if you are being tested to great limits
Don't Lose Faith - Do Not Worry Unnecessarily!
God Must Say "No!" Sometimes
Divine Mercy - The Greatest Attribute of God
Spiritual Dysfunction - Its Identification, Treatment and Cure
Why Do Some of God's Chosen Ones Must Suffer? - Redemptive Suffering
Don't despair, even if you are being tested to great limits
Don't Lose Faith - Do Not Worry Unnecessarily!
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Published on September 18th, 2015
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