Lord Teach Me Your Ways

Ever since my husband went through RCIA, I have been on a journey of learning more and more about our faith. That year spent in RCIA as a sponsor really ignited a fire in my heart. I can remember each week leaving class just astounded at the beauty and depth of truth that can be found in the teachings of the Church. I spent much of my life before that time not really caring about Church teaching, and so the things that I didn’t want to follow, I just didn’t. I also didn’t realize the consequences of that until much later in life after having gone through Discipleship Deliverance.

Upon hearing the Psalm today at mass, it reminded me of this time in my life: “Teach me your ways O Lord” (Psalm 25). This deep yearning of the heart is placed within us by God; He wants us to discover Him. God doesn’t create us with all the answers, with full knowledge and understanding into His heart. No, God creates us with a heart that yearns to learn and know and love with an ever increasing capacity. This is part of what it means to be human and to be made in God’s image and likeness; we have this ever increasing capacity of our intellect and heart that cannot be found in any other created thing.

At the 15th World Youth Day, Pope John Paul II said these words to the young people in attendance:

“It is Jesus in fact that you seek when you dream of happiness; he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.”

15th WORLD YOUTH DAY: ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER JOHN PAUL II 
Vigil of Prayer: Saturday, 19 August 2000

We are all seeking to know the ways of the Lord because it is our greatest fulfillment. When we know the ways of the Lord we shall not be surprised at the mercy of God. The book of Jonah teaches us more about this truth. When God had mercy upon the people of Nineveh, Jonah was surprised and even somewhat angry with the Lord. He did not understand why God would have mercy upon a people so sinful. Jonah desired God’s justice over God’s mercy.

The whole reason God sent Jonah to Nineveh was to give the people a chance to repent, which is exactly what they did, “they proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth” (Jonah 3:5). Later on in the story, Jonah is angry with the Lord for not enacting His justice upon the sinful people of Nineveh. For whatever reason, Jonah didn’t think that they deserved mercy. In this mission, God was teaching Jonah His ways and we see how Jonah fought it every step of the way. Jonah knew and believed in God’s justice, but he had not yet learned the ways of God’s mercy. So God sends Jonah on this mission of mercy not only to offer repentance to Nineveh, but also to teach Jonah of His mercy. How often we think of our missions in life as only a means of God using us to serve others, but we should also consider how God is using these missions to teach us more about His ways; to shape us into people after His own heart.

God came into the world through His Son Jesus, who shows us what it means to be merciful. Jesus’ entire public ministry was about mercy and repentance. He came for the sick, those who were open to repentance, not for the self righteous who had no room for mercy in their hearts. If we are to truly live as Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, we must learn the ways of God, we must learn of God’s mercy.

For me, it comes down to remembering what God has done for me in my life. In remembrance of the ways the Lord has been merciful to me, my view shifts to one of gratitude instead of judgement. When I really think about it, God’s mercy extended to me even when I was running away from Him. How often do I look upon my neighbor who is far from God and begin to judge. Jonah thought the people of Nineveh did not deserve God’s mercy one bit, he was ready to see God enact His divine justice upon them, and yet God was merciful first. He gave the people of Nineveh the chance to repent and when they did, it was the joy of the Lord that they were saved from the full consequences their sin. This is the Good News of God’s mercy, we do not get what we deserve, we get a chance to repent first.

God pursued me in my darkest days, in order to offer me a chance of repentance. I am so grateful that I was given the grace to respond in repentance to His mercy. I don’t know where I would be today if I had rejected God’s mercy. I truly believe that even my response was a grace, thanks be to God!

As I try to keep God’s mercy in the forefront of my mind, I have to remember that His mercy and my repentance is not a one time event. The truth is, I continue to turn away from God in so many ways, but He is continually offering His mercy to me, every moment of my life, even when I fall over and over again. God truly never tires of extending His mercy to us! Take time today to thank God for His mercy. If you are having trouble seeing God’s mercy in your life, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it to you. Let the Lord teach you His ways. Then we will not be surprised when we see His mercy endure over and over again in our lives and in the lives of even the worst sinners.