Magnificent Prayer #131
Magnificent Prayer #131
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
The mother of Augustine, in her longing for the conversion of her son, prayed that he might not go to Rome, as she feared its dissipations. God answered her by sending him to Rome to be converted there. Things we call good are often God’s evil things, and our evil is His good. However things may look, we always know that God must give the best because He is God and can do no other.
HANNAH WHITALL SMITH
Pray About It: When God sends our son to Rome though we have prayed otherwise, do we despair and complain, thinking God hasn’t heard our request? Or do we remember another son who was sent to a land full of dissipation that God’s will might be done?
Never limit God. Give Him room. Though God may seem momentarily to be moving in a direction that alarms you, He will make it work for good.
Trusting God is easy when His will aligns with ours. But when His will leads to Rome, will we patiently watch for the outcome of His will with joy? To do so is to display deep trust in God.
Augustine’s mother wasted her worry. God had it all under control, even in Rome. Make the following prayer by Augustine your own. Pray it aloud.
I was nothing. You had no need of me. Even now my service has not even the value of a laborer tilling his master’s land, because even if I did not work, you would bring forth the same harvest. I can only serve You and worship You with the good that comes from You. It is from You alone that I receive strength, and without You I am nothing.
From the book
