Avoiding the Pitfalls

 When it comes to our thoughts about God, temptations have a way of creeping up in our minds and hearts - often without us realizing it. It is easy for the way of the world to influence our thoughts on God and how He might judge our actions. Themes of doubt, irrational fear, distrust, and laziness can quickly influence us and our faith --IF we let it. Such temptations come from the evil one who is an accuser, tempter, and most of all - a liar.

My Journey With Jesus has been through many of these situations - as all of us have. This morning out of nowhere a thought entered my head. "God will judge those who spread the Gospel to a higher standard (priests, religious, catechists, etc). If you mess up, you know what will happen."

My first thought was, "Yes, that's true. We hear it in Luke 12:48  'Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.'

However, my immediate thought after that was that, "It's OK. I trust God and His Mercy." Just as quickly as the thought came, it vanished.

It's interesting because the temptation to not trust God is the oldest trick in the book.

Gn 3:1-3
Now the snake was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. 

He asked the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any of the trees in the garden’?”

The woman answered the snake: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; it is only about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, ‘You shall not eat it or even touch it, or else you will die.’”

And so, I carried on and will continue to carry on in my missions to share God's love and the Gospel. I will continue to teach. I will continue my Catholic Magazine. I will continue my Journey With Jesus.