They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?” (Luke 24:32)
Sometimes it’s easier to see how God has blessed us in the past than to recognize it in the present. The distractions and challenges we face on a daily basis have a way of causing us to lose our focus.
Here’s what I wrote in Give Up Worry For Good…
It’s important to acknowledge God’s goodness in the past without losing sight of the blessings of the present moment. This is especially true when facing challenging times (such as what we all faced during the COVID pandemic). As the pandemic progressed and I brought it to prayer, however, I realized that God was giving me a fresh opportunity to thank him for all those blessings I had taken for granted through the years, including those hot summer days so many years ago, when my biggest concern was whether I should occupy my day swimming, riding my bike, or playing Wiffle ball with my neighborhood friends. I found myself giving thanks for those post-Mass Sunday morning breakfasts with my parents, playing catch with my friend Bill, or driving to the Jersey shore in my 1970 Dodge Coronet with the windows down and the radio blasting. In that time of crisis, I had a new chance to thank God for blessing me with thousands of “little things” over the years.
All of this may be true, but it’s not good enough to just recognize what God has done in the past. We still need to find a way to see what He’s doing in the present. But what can we do?
I believe that it does start by looking back, as we’ve been doing all week. Then, we need to recognize the fact that God never changes. If He did it before, He will do it again. Keeping that in mind will help us to acknowledge His constant assistance, even if we can’t see it while it’s happening. Doing this will also help us to face the future without fear, knowing that the Lord will provide.
