God is generous beyond our imagination: not only in the general sense of creating the universe, giving us life, and offering us the gift of faith, but also in the specific sense of making specific promises to specific people. To understand this, just look at the following passage from the Old Testament.
You shall therefore keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land which you are going over to possess, and that you may live long in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey […] a land which the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. And if you will obey my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you shall eat and be full. (Deuteronomy 11:8-15)
As you can see, God was generous to the Israelites in very specific ways. Even when they drifted away from Him, He became incarnate so they could be reminded of His sacred generosity in person. This is one way, of course, that we know God will be faithful and generous to us too.
You see, when we think times are bad or we feel like God isn’t listening, remembering these stories from Sacred Scripture are one way that we can know God is very much by our side and always giving us what we need. Even when we find ourselves pulling away from God, we have to be reminded that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are generously offering us everything we need to deepen our faith and to survive on earth until we enter the kingdom of heaven. All we have to do is ask God for help. To understand this more, look at this passage from today’s Gospel.
And I tell you, Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11:9-13).
The net promise of these passages is to say that all any of us has to do is to go to God and ask for what we need. If we go to Him with the love and humility of children, we can experience God’s goodness and generosity over and over again. Thank you, Jesus.
So, during this Year of Faith, ask yourself this: do I truly believe God is generous? Do I truly believe He lives up to His promises? Do I believe He is at my side at all times? Do I live up to my promises to God? Am I generous to Him like He is to me?
Let us pray for one another that we live our lives in the light of this kind of faith.
