[Finding God in All Things] Day 13 – Seeking the Image of God

Farmer of Hearts - Finding God in All Things

As we build our relationships with God, we need to fully understand God's actual role in our lives. Mutual understanding of our respective roles and positions can help and guide us in establishing an appropriate way of interacting—how to treat, respect, accept, trust, understand and cooperate with each other. These principles of human interaction also apply to our relationship with God. On this basis, building an intimate relationship becomes much easier. With a good relationship with God, we can hear His voice more easily and understand His will, and consequently, discern and recognize our own identity and the mission He has given us more easily. Lacking any of these aspects can affect our ability to find the direction of our lives and live a meaningful life.

If the rich young man not only perceived Jesus as a "good teacher" but also recognized Him as the Saviour he had been longing for, the one who would bring him eternal life and the God who provides for his needs, he would have known how to interact with Jesus with the right mindset and attitude. Recognizing Jesus's role would have helped him establish the right and trusting relationship with Jesus. In that case, he would not have overlooked the personal promise from Jesus that, as soon as he responded to and fulfilled Jesus’ request, God would immediately bestow upon him treasures in heaven.

The way God connects with individuals and the roles and images He assumes vary according to each person's situation and needs. It is personalized for each individual for our greatest benefit. God interacts intimately with each individual. What is suitable for one person may not be so for another. Therefore, you will find that among the many saints in the Catholic Church, they have their unique ways of connecting with God, and because their personalities and callings are different, their paths and methods of responding to their callings are also different. How the saints lived out their faith is worth modelling after, but we should not just blindly adopt the exact way of living of a particular saint.

But there is one important foundation: understanding the primary role through which God connects with us. This is crucial in establishing a relationship with God. If we choose the role of God in our lives based solely on our likes and dislikes, it is not what God desires of us. Relationships are mutual, and we need to consider God's will and perspective. Through prayer and meditation, and by humbly listening to the prompts of God in our hearts, He will gradually reveal His image to us, enabling us to see more clearly who our God is.

God is the Creator, and He knows our makeup and our needs most intimately. The essence of God is love, and in creating us, He poured His love upon us. In fact, it is out of deep love for us that He desired to share all His creation with us, and that is the reason for our existence. But He is also a righteous and merciful God and cannot bear to see us lose the endless grace and eternal life that He wants to bestow upon us because of our sins. Therefore, He spared no effort, even sacrificing His beloved only begotten Son to bear the punishment we couldn't endure. Jesus endured humiliation and suffering on the cross, died and rose again after three days, gaining for us the identity of His adopted sons and daughters. This was all done so that we could regain the grace of God and the promise of eternal life. Our heavenly Father continues to provide for all our needs through everything He has created unceasingly.

In fact, all creation is a gift from God to mankind and can lead people to God. This is the first principle of Ignatian spirituality. Since all creation is God's handiwork, it should help us know the Creator better and, consequently, return God’s love more readily. If we can approach the various blessings and experiences in our lives with the right mindset, we will understand how to establish a proper relationship with God, respond positively to His invitation, and accept everything that happens in our lives as allowed by God.

Take the rich young man in the Gospel as an example. If he could recognize that his many possessions were blessings and gifts from God, through which he should give glory to God, we can imagine that it would be easier for him to let go of God’s unconditional gifts and accept God’s invitation to follow Him. As a result, the trajectory of his life would have changed, possibly turning him into a great apostle!

Reflection

You are now invited to meditate on your relationship with God. What roles has God played in your life?

Based on these roles that God has played in your life, what identities has God given you? Are there some identities that you were not aware of before?

Do these identities of yours remind you that God might have invited you to respond to certain missions in the past?

Today’s Prayer

Oh God, my Creator, Saviour who grants me eternal life, Teacher who guides me, Father who gives me life and provides for my needs, gracious Lord who calls me a friend, thank You for playing these various roles, not for any other reason but to love me unconditionally! What a blessing it is for me! How can I repay the sacrifices You've made for me out of love!

In Your presence, I am truly speechless! Looking back at my past, I feel deeply ashamed for the hurts I've caused You due to my disregard and misunderstanding of You. Now, I come before You to apologize for the grievances You've endured and for all the pain of being neglected and abandoned by me. Please forgive me!

Please renew me and grant me a new identity so that I won't let You down or fail in what You hope to accomplish in me.

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The following is the “Farmer of Hearts: Finding God in All Things” team, including FLL staff and volunteers. Please kindly pray for them. May God protect them and sustain their physical, mental and spiritual well-being.

Project Manager: Michael Lam
Writer: Paul Yeung
Editors: Bonny Chan, Rosa Tse
English Editors: Bonny Chan, Paul Yeung
Mandarin Editor: Anthony X.
Cantonese Narrator: Margaret Woo
English Narrator: Bonny Chan
Mandarin Narrator: Rene Ren
Audio Editors: Fonte Ip, Sander Lee, Margaret Woo
YouTube Editors: Fonte Ip, Sander Lee, Arnold Chan
Graphics: Francis Lai, Rosa Tse
Website: Patricia Young, Angela Wong
Podcast: Angela Wong
Social Media: Yollie Leung, Carmen Tsang, Rosa Tse
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