Who we are in the eyes of God

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

IT would be good if all the time we have it clear in our mind who we really are, what our true identity and dignity are, in the eyes, in the mind and heart of God. It would help us to stay calm, confident and happy despite the ups and downs of our earthly sojourn.

We are God’s beloved! His love for us, to put it bluntly, is the same as his love for his own self. And that’s because we have been created in very image and likeness, meant to share his very own life and nature.

In spite of our human limitations that are due first of all by our lack of faith in our true identity and by the misuse of our freedom and all the other God-given powers, God never fails to love us just the same. He would go to such extent as to become man, to preach the Good News to us, and ultimately to offer his life for us. That way, he himself bears all our sins and conquers them with his resurrection.

To top it all, he remains with us all throughout time, his real presence and the ever-ready offer for our redemption are made available in the sacraments, especially in the Holy Eucharist. He knows our weaknesses, he knows that we continue to fall, and yet he is all there, ready to forgive us and to make us new again.

These considerations should always be in our mind. That is the real challenge because we all know that our thoughts and intentions, more often than not, are guided simply by our human reasoning, based mainly on feelings, on worldly standards, etc., rather on the gift of faith that God himself gives us.

God wants to share who he is and what he has with us. But it is us who fail to correspond to such tremendous gift and truth. It would be nice if from time to time, we pause and consider again this most wonderful truth about ourselves.

That awareness, nay, conviction, would help us to live good and happy lives, able to deal properly with whatever human situation and condition we may find ourselves in. We can have the strength to say “No” to temptations, and if ever we fall, we would not hesitate to go back to God, convinced that God’s mercy would always be given to us.

More than that, we would have the power to do a lot of good, to continue working with Christ for the redemption of mankind. Yes, we would be able to “bear all things and conquer all things.”

Yes, there’s really no reason for us to be too worried and anxious when we encounter some difficulty in our life. In fact, we have every reason to be confident and at peace, focused on what we are supposed to do. And that’s because we are always in God’s hands.

Whatever situation we may be in, we can be sure that God will always provide for what is truly needed by us, and it may not be what we want. We just have to trust him completely for he knows better than we do, and what we want may not be what we need. It may not even be what is good for us.

God always knows what to do in any situation we may find ourselves in. He may allow some evil to come to us, an evil that can do us no harm unless we let it, but God knows how to draw good from evil.

We should just remember who we are in the eyes of God!

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com