Daily Fenelon > Open Your Heart
Open Your Heart
You sense within you what God wants, yet you resist. No wonder you are distressed. You say, "It is impossible to do what God wants," Now that is a real invitation to despair, isn't it? Despair of yourself as much as you like, but never despair of God. You know that He is all-good and all-powerful. God will give to you according to your faith. Look at Abraham who hoped against hope! Look at Mary who did not hesitate even when the most incredible thing in the world was proposed to her!
Open your heart. You have shut it so tightly
you do not even want God to help you at this point. How can grace find room to work with an attitude like that? All I ask is that you rest in faith with a teachable spirit. Do not listen to yourself. Give in to the will of God with a humble heart God will work everything out for you. The things that look the largest and most impossible will be accomplished without your even knowing how.
By the circumcision of your heart you are made children of Abraham. Like him you must leave your native country and all that is familiar to you, and go out without even knowing where you are going. What a blessing! Leave everything and deliver yourself up to a God who loves you jealously! You, by yourself, can only accomplish shallow changes. You do not know yourself. God knows you deeply, and knows exactly where to dig up the source of your troubles. Self-love is cowardly. The self does not have the courage to wound itself to death. The hand of God strikes in unexpected places and leaves nothing uncovered. Your self-love will cry out where God hits it. See to it that you do nothing to comfort it. Just sit back and let God do His work. Stay still as He operates on you and His work will be a success.
I am inspired by John the Baptist who completely forgothimself that he might think only of Christ. He pointed to Christ with his whole life. What an example he sets before you!
