All for You

Sweet Lord,

In the past week I’ve begun to realize the foretaste of what a life lived in mission for You would entail. And it is nothing short of radical. And I never saw myself as radical – for I used to toe the line. Always, and carefully. I hated to give offense, and that had been the guiding principle for most of my actions. Diplomacy is what I had become known for.

But You taught me that peacemaking is not the same as diplomacy. To make peace is to confront with the truth of God’s Word, done in the spirit of Love. And St. Paul interesting wrote that love is not quick to take offense; but he did not write that love does not offend. For did not Christ Himself offend the sensibilities of many? And yet, He was a peacemaker, and He brought healing to those who needed it. He knew who He was and what He was called to do, and nothing deterred Him from His path.

I praise You and thank You for giving me the courage to love no matter what. You had promised me that to follow You is to walk the way of the cross – that I will meet resistance and persecution, even within the church. Help me to discern Your will always. Send me brothers and sisters that are my sounding board. Yet help me to never use ‘discernment’ as an excuse for inaction or for not going forth in faith.

I will not worry about the future, for the future is in Your hands. I willingly accept my cross, and accept that I will share not only in Palm Sunday, with the people’s affirmation and acceptance of You, but also in Holy Week, with Your abandonment, Passion, and death. No servant is greater than his master, and so You had reminded me, that everything You had encountered, I will encounter too. I praise and thank You for it!

For as long as I shall live, I will testify to love. Your love. I will hold You and Your people in my heart. And during the times when criticism and condemnation overwhelm affirmation and encouragement, and when my friends turn against me just as Yours had, help me to remember that I am merely the little donkey that carried You into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. It’s all for you, Lord. All for You.