I am dismayed when I hear someone blame his or her troubles on God. "It'sGod's will,"I have heard many people say in the face of difficulty and trial. Mind you, they are not accusing God. It's more than that: They are attributing a lack of love to Him. The thought that God might ever want anything but our good; the belief that He could, for reasons beyond our comprehension, ordain our pain--ideas such as these can lead us into the most desolate of lives

It is difficult for us to comprehend the reasoning behind our sufferings, to understand why we aren't protected from the wounds of human life. And it is difficult to confide our innermost needs to God and then to end our prayer with "Thy will be done." We recognize that God's will and ours don't always coincide. Understandably, we don't want to suffer-not ever- and yet God often leads us into times of utter despair.

WHY?

Because God can see farther up the road than we can. His vision is eons long, and at best we can struggle only with tomorrow, and not very well at that. We have human vision; we are nearsighted by comparison with Him. We can't possibly know where our footsteps of today may lead us. Only God can. And He leads us away from disaster, although sometimes by a difficult route.

Yes, it is hard for us to submit ourselves to God's will, especially when we think we know what is best for us. But we don't really know; we only like to think we do.

Praying is to live in the sight of him who by His love makes us what we are. We must be obedient to Him.

Georges Lefebvre