When Our Dormant Weaknesses Get Enkindled

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

WE have to be wary of this possibility. Given how things are nowadays, we should be prepared to deal with this phenomenon that, sad to say, is getting more common. We should realize that instead of feeling sad when such thing occurs in us, we should rather somehow welcome it, since it is an opportunity and an invitation to grow more in the virtues and to make progress in our pursuit for both human and Christian maturity.

As St. Paul once assured us, “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8,28) Yes, the secret is always to refer these occurrences to God. We should never dare to deal with them solely by our own selves, relying only on our own strength that can only go so far.

We should not be surprised that we have these dormant weaknesses. These are our vulnerabilities that have been hidden or inactive because we have managed to put them under control so far, or because we simply did not realize we have them.

We may have impressive talents and other qualities, but let’s not forget that we all have “feet of clay.” (cfr. Dan 2,33) Just a little disturbance, and the whole edifice of our humanity would just crumble down.

When our dormant weaknesses get stirred up, the first thing to do is to pray, to refer them to God, asking for help and strength. And then let’s do all that are needed to confront this problem properly.

Obviously, we would need some concrete help from outside. We should not just handle this thing on our own. We need counselling and accompaniment, both human and supernatural, material and spiritual.

There’s always hope even in our worst scenario. And that’s because God never leaves us, but continues to love and care for us, in spite of all. He gives us everything we need to handle this situation.

We should be quick to realize this truth of our faith, and act accordingly. Let’s avoid aggravating the situation by avoiding falling into discouragement, depression or self-isolation, a fertile ground for the devil to tempt us into worse conditions. The devil obviously wants us to be alienated as much as possible from God and from others. Rather, like the prodigal son, let’s return to God asking for mercy which he readily gives.

We should not doubt that we have our human and worldly limits. And yet in spite of that, neither can we doubt that deep within us is, at least, the desire to go beyond our limitations. And there’s objective basis for that desire.

We have to learn how to react according to our Christian faith when our dormant weaknesses get enkindled. We should never just rely on our own estimation of things that would often lead us to be scandalized, to feel bad and discouraged, and to run away from the one who precisely can resolve everything for us, including those problems we cannot anymore resolve.

We need to trust in God’s providence and mercy. We have to learn to live a spirit of abandonment in the hands of God even as we do our best to develop the appropriate virtues and norms of prudence. Yes, if we have faith in God, in his wisdom and mercy, in his unfailing love for us, we know that everything will always work out for the good. (cfr. Rom 8,28)

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com