“The Family of God: In the Kingdom of Their Father”

Precious are we in the sight of the Lord; so much so that He has allowed us to hear today from His Word. Probably some of us are going thru a certain stage of difficulty in our lives, so I pray that we are reminded of the immeasurable amount of God’s blessing overflowing to us.

In our first reading, the Lord speaks through Isaiah and tells us, “Do not be afraid, Jacob, my servant.” If we only realize the assurance we have, we will know that every time we see the words, “Do not be afraid,” the next lines will be a long list of His promises to us. Certainly, the following verses remind us of the abundance of God’s blessing; “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.” (Isaiah 44:3-4)

When we are at our lowest point we are tempted to doubt the Lord’s provisions, so we seek for happiness some place else, only to find it to be temporary, for true happiness comes from the joy of being in the presence of the Lord. Psalm 139 remind us today that we do not need to look far away, “If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.”

Feeling alone? This is probably one of the worst feeling anyone can go through, but the Lord reminds us thru St. Paul that “we share His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory” I pray that we begin to realize that for all the hardships we go through in our lives, we can find peace knowing that the Lord is right beside us. If God is with us then we can boldly say, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us!”

Finally, the Gospel explains to us the Parable of the Weeds. The Parable warns us of the bad seed that the enemy sows, but during harvest time, only the good seed will yield righteousness, and they will shine like the sun. This parable tells us that whatever trials we are facing today, the Lord will never allow them to have the maximum effect on us which the enemy intended. We can be confident that the Lord will pluck out the weeds in our lives and we can enjoy the bountiful harvest that the Lord has provided for us.

Let us be reminded of God’s promises to us today, so as we face another week, we will have much joy knowing that His promises endure forever.