Are You More Special?

[Micki]

Just some of my musings—

Sure, I understand and believe that God loves ALL of his children but sometimes I wonder if some of us are more special than others??

I sometimes feel this when I watch/listen to others who witness to how God has worked and is working in their lives. Despite the sufferings they may have been asked to endure, these folks have been given opportunities I couldn’t image nor have I been offered to do. I, too, have offered myself to the Lord and, yet, no opportunities have come my way. I look and have, with faith, stepped into the deep water only to have failed or not find anything different than my ordinary day to day monotany.

So, I ask—are some of us children more special than others? Are some more favored than others although not less loved?

Sadly, it appears so to me.

 

[Micki]

So, are you more special? Has has the Lord, just like some mothers, given you that EXTRA scoop of ice cream? Seems like some of us just are passed over despite that we express thanks for what we are given, others just seem to get more.

I guess some of us are prime rib while the rest of us are chopped liver!!

Micki

 

[JaredR]

Interesting question. I think so, and so does St. Francis de Sales. In one of his meditations he asks us to consider the ways God has favored us. For example, he has favored you and me by making us Catholics and giving us access to the resources of the internet. He favors many people in many different ways.

Hmm. Good food for thought…

 

[PatriceA]

I don’t think God plays favorites. The people that can witness how God has worked in their lives usually have an active prayer life and devotional life and have fine tuned their ability to see how God has/is working in their lives. God works in everyone’s life, sometimes its just more subtle than in in other’s lives. I guarantee he has worked in ALL of our lives, at some point and in the biggest and smallest ways. People will dismiss his works as coincidences or just luck, but I do not believe in either. God is always talking to us, we just have to develop the “ear” to listen, to train our “eye” to see and to develop a fine “ear” to hear. Even when you turn your back on God, he will pursue your heart and mind to turn back to him until the day you die.

I would advise not to ask God to bring tests and trials in your life so that you can say God has done works for you. That is opening the door for the devil to use his tricks in your life as well.

 

[joe_cool]

Just some of my musings—

Sure, I understand and believe that God loves ALL of his children but sometimes I wonder if some of us are more special than others??

No.

 

[JaredR]

No.

Could you explain your thoughts? That doesn’t tell us much about what you think…

 

[joe_cool]

Could you explain your thoughts? That doesn’t tell us much about what you think…

What I think, is that to entertain the notion that God loves me more than someone else… is the epitome of vanity. Furthermore, the notion that God loves someone else more than me… is the epitome of vanity.

God is perfect. That is not to say that perfection is a trait of His… but rather that He IS perfection. Arbitrary affection is a fault of the human condition.

TL;DR: Stop trying to fool yourself into thinking that it’s possible to measure God’s affection and start doing something useful with your time.

 

[brandy_jo]

Wow! Micki, I get the feeling this might be about something specific, and I too have had times when I have felt a little “forgotten” or “unnoticed” by God. This might be a good time to examine your heart. Is there someone you are jealous of in particular? Have you meditated lately on the Cross of Christ and on the Gift of the Eucharist? Have you made a good examination of conscience and confession lately? When is the last time you considered all that God has given you, from the least to the greatest blessings? Is this a matter of pride or self-will in your case? (It certainly was in mine!) You might be wise to discuss these feelings with a priest, or to go to confession if you have given in to jealousy/envy/pride/self-will/self-pity/etc. Often our little tendencies to jealousy or self-pity can work to our advantage if we use them to humble ourselves before God in gratitude and trust.

 

[JaredR]

What I think, is that to entertain the notion that God loves me more than someone else… is the epitome of vanity. Furthermore, the notion that God loves someone else more than me… is the epitome of vanity.

God is perfect. That is not to say that perfection is a trait of His… but rather that He IS perfection. Arbitrary affection is a fault of the human condition.

TL;DR: Stop trying to fool yourself into thinking that it’s possible to measure God’s affection and start doing something useful with your time.

That’s actually the opposite of what the OP said. Check out the last question…

The OP is asking about favor, not love. God doesn’t equally distribute His gifts for whatever reasons. He favors some with private revelations, some with greater graces than others, some with the Sacraments, etc. This doesn’t mean He neglects certain people and has more love for others. Everything He does is according to His infinite wisdom.

 

[joe_cool]

That’s actually the opposite of what the OP said. Check out the last question…

The OP is asking about favor, not love. God doesn’t equally distribute His gifts for whatever reasons. He favors some with private revelations, some with greater graces than others, some with the Sacraments, etc. This doesn’t mean He neglects certain people and has more love for others. Everything He does is according to His infinite wisdom.

Fine, substitute the word “favor” for “love” in my last post. What you’re talking about still amounts to an incredible amount of vanity. “God favors that person more than me because they got a personal revelation and all I got was this lousy bicycle.”

If you are measuring the favor shown another…* you’re doing it wrong.*

 

[rebecca123]

Mikki, I feel encouraged just reading your post, because you are so honest and express yourself very well. Sometimes I also struggle with feeling like this so it’s comforting to know i’m not alone. So maybe God is using you in ways you just aren’t aware of as much.

We can’t choose our spiritual gifts or how God will use us. it’s beyond our understanding how and why graces are distributed as they are. Thomas Kempis writes a lot about this in Imitation of Chirst, it’s really a good book.

God bless you.

 

[JaredR]

Fine, substitute the word “favor” for “love” in my last post. What you’re talking about still amounts to an incredible amount of vanity. “God favors that person more than me because they got a personal revelation and all I got was this lousy bicycle.”

If you are measuring the favor shown another…* you’re doing it wrong.*

Vanity? Do you know my heart? I rejoice in the favor God bestows on others. Most especially His beautiful masterpiece, the Blessed Virgin Mary, “full of grace,” also translated as highly favored one. St. Elizabeth rejoiced that the Lord had “shown His favor” (Luke 1:25) and taken away her barrenness. And I also rejoice with David, who “found favor with God” (Acts 7:46).

The Lord’s favors are signs of His goodness. :angel1:

 

[Pug]

Okay, this takes patience because Aquinas is troublesome to reason through, but I think Aquinas talks about the principle of predilection, found here in the Summa, the first part question 20 article 3 and 4:
I answer that, Since to love a thing is to will it good, in a twofold way anything may be loved more, or less. In one way on the part of the act of the will itself, which is more or less intense. In this way God does not love some things more than others, because He loves all things by an act of the will that is one, simple, and always the same. In another way on the part of the good itself that a person wills for the beloved. In this way we are said to love that one more than another, for whom we will a greater good, though our will is not more intense. In this way we must needs say that God loves some things more than others. For since God’s love is the cause of goodness in things, as has been said (2), no one thing would be better than another, if God did not will greater good for one than for another…

I answer that, It must needs be, according to what has been said before, that God loves more the better things . For it has been shown (2, 3), that God’s loving one thing more than another is nothing else than His willing for that thing a greater good: because God’s will is the cause of goodness in things; and the reason why some things are better than others, is that God wills for them a greater good. Hence it follows that He loves more the better things.

Thus it does seem possible on some level to say God loves some more than others. This is on the basis of what God gives/wills them.

Of course, each of us is given a gift to help others. All of us have our place in the body, to go out and love and serve God. Also, our gifts are different. Some are teachers, some apostles, some are prophets, etc. (a bible reference). We were all made to drink of one Spirit, though, even if we do different things.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Vanity? Do you know my heart? I rejoice in the favor God bestows on others. Most especially His beautiful masterpiece, the Blessed Virgin Mary, “full of grace,” also translated as highly favored one. St. Elizabeth rejoiced that the Lord had “shown His favor” (Luke 1:25) and taken away her barrenness. And I also rejoice with David, who “found favor with God” (Acts 7:46).

The Lord’s favors are signs of His goodness. :angel1:

Sorry, I’m with joe on this one. Just because you get sorts of spiritual revelations/sensations, does not mean you are more loved or more special; it just makes you different.

To the OP: Again, as with joe said, you need to start doing something better with your time. Perhaps the reason why you feel this monotony is that you don’t really know what to do with your life. I’ve felt that way before and I still do sometimes but it always helps to set myself a goal.

 

[TheQuestioner]

Just some of my musings—

Sure, I understand and believe that God loves ALL of his children but sometimes I wonder if some of us are more special than others??

I sometimes feel this when I watch/listen to others who witness to how God has worked and is working in their lives. Despite the sufferings they may have been asked to endure, these folks have been given opportunities I couldn’t image nor have I been offered to do. I, too, have offered myself to the Lord and, yet, no opportunities have come my way. I look and have, with faith, stepped into the deep water only to have failed or not find anything different than my ordinary day to day monotany.

So, I ask—are some of us children more special than others? Are some more favored than others although not less loved?

Sadly, it appears so to me.

Realize that God gives us gifts so as to help us gain salvation first and foremost. Others my have heard the voice of God or seen Him in a vision and whatnot, but you can rest assured that the only reason why you haven’t is because it is better that way. Try not to be jealous of other people’s spiritual gifts, they often come with suffering.

 

[JaredR]

Sorry, I’m with joe on this one. Just because you get sorts of spiritual revelations/sensations, does not mean you are more loved or more special; it just makes you different.

To the OP: Again, as with joe said, you need to start doing something better with your time. Perhaps the reason why you feel this monotony is that you don’t really know what to do with your life. I’ve felt that way before and I still do sometimes but it always helps to set myself a goal.

God’s favors are from His goodness, not our worthiness. What do you think of those examples LW?

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

God’s favors are from His goodness, not our worthiness. What do you think of those examples LW?

So? You thank God for gifts. That doesn’t mean those gifts are limited to gifts of the spiritual nature. Neither does that mean you have less than anyone else. You just happen to have varying proportions of gift “types”.

I’m guessing the OP is asking the type of life given to saints with all the visions and spiritual high. In line with TheQuestioner’s statements, I say be careful with what you wish for. Those who see God usually end up seeing nothing else. Believe me, that has plenty of disadvantages.

 

[Bob_Crowley]

Just some of my musings—

Sure, I understand and believe that God loves ALL of his children but sometimes I wonder if some of us are more special than others??

I sometimes feel this when I watch/listen to others who witness to how God has worked and is working in their lives. Despite the sufferings they may have been asked to endure, these folks have been given opportunities I couldn’t image nor have I been offered to do. I, too, have offered myself to the Lord and, yet, no opportunities have come my way. I look and have, with faith, stepped into the deep water only to have failed or not find anything different than my ordinary day to day monotany.

So, I ask—are some of us children more special than others? Are some more favored than others although not less loved?

Sadly, it appears so to me.

I think we all struggle with this sometimes, but in different ways. I look around and I see people I know who I think have not faced 10% of the frustrations that I’ve had. And what’s more, they seem to be given better jobs, greater authority, personal success etc.

My old Protestant pastor once confided to me. “I’ve listened to Billy Graham’s sermons, and I’m not trying to boast, but I think that my sermons were usually just as good as his. But here I sit with a church of about 150 people, in an inner city suburb, and I wonder why?” (His sermons were good too). Then he shrugged his shoulders and said, “I don’t know. Maybe God knows that a ministry like his would go to my head and spoil me”. (Personally I don’t think it would have done).

There was a Hungarian or Romanian Jewish Christian named Richard Wurmbrand who, along with his wife, suffered terribly under the Communists. My own pastor said in a sermon he had the privilege to meet him on a number of occasions. I"ve also heard Bishop Fulton Sheen speak about him, and he also knew him (Small world). I’ve also heard Bishop Fulton Sheen mention him on a retreat DVD I’ve got as an example of suffering.

Now Bishop Sheen probably has by far the greater reputation in Catholic circles. Yet never did he have to suffer like Richard or Sabrina Wurmbrand (his wife), or hundreds of thousands of other completely unknown Christians. Nothing like it. In fact, I think you could say that by the standards of Christians in the Soviet Bloc, Bishop Sheen and Christians in the West had it easy. He had a rewarding TV ministry in his early days, interesting and important postings in London and Paris, travelled overseas regularly, and was widely admired. At the same time others were being martyred for their faith, and disappeared into holes in the ground in the frozen tundra.

Why?

We don’t know. Yet even your frustration with the situation may be a form of your own suffering.

 

[puzzleannie]

Just some of my musings—

Sure, I understand and believe that God loves ALL of his children but sometimes I wonder if some of us are more special than others??

I sometimes feel this when I watch/listen to others who witness to how God has worked and is working in their lives. Despite the sufferings they may have been asked to endure, these folks have been given opportunities I couldn’t image nor have I been offered to do. I, too, have offered myself to the Lord and, yet, no opportunities have come my way. I look and have, with faith, stepped into the deep water only to have failed or not find anything different than my ordinary day to day monotany.

So, I ask—are some of us children more special than others? Are some more favored than others although not less loved?

Sadly, it appears so to me.

Jesus answered this question in the gospel, when people asked him, why did you heal that person and not this, or deliver demons from this person, not that. He told them he worked his miracles not so much for the benefit of the person in need, although he made that an occasion of a personal encounter and conversion for that individual, but as signs to the people of the truth of his message and mission. He even asked them, why when the tower fell were some people killed and not others. These favors are given not only to those who ask in faith, but for His purposes, to demonstrate his power and glory, in the lives of individuals who may be the only ones who witness the event, and to the rest of the Church.

He also spoke sternly to those who asked for a sign, reminding them that he himself IS the Sign and that in having him with them, they have the Father as well. We have Christ present in the sacraments, and that should be all the sign we need. If we are doing our prayers and devotions for the purpose of compelling God to give us special favors, we are doing them for all the wrong reasons. St. Therese may be one of the best of the more modern writers describing how this all works in our relationship with Christ, and her humility in calling herself the smallest child best describes the trust we should have in this relationship. The child accepts gratefully whatever the parent gives without questioning it.

The spiritual jealously that arises when we compare our spiritual lives and consolations with those of others is exceedingly dangerous to our spiritual health, as the saints warn over and over, which is why Teresa and others warn against putting too much stock in such things.

That cute movie about the congressman who becomes a modern day Noah was a bit schlocky and fuzzy theologically (although I agree Morgan Freeman makes a great God, even better than George Burns) but at one point the wife prays for the family to become closer. She does not recognize until “God” points it out to her at the truck stop that the very thing she is running away from, her husband’s crazy Noah fixation, is the vehicle God has sent to foster this family closeness. Point being the answer to our prayer may not be recognized for what it is without some spiritual altertness. Saying “God has not sent me the opportunities to use suffering to get closer to him that he has to others” is in a way tempting God, and ignoring the daily opportunities that litter our path.

 

[Micki]

Mikki, I feel encouraged just reading your post, because you are so honest and express yourself very well. Sometimes I also struggle with feeling like this so it’s comforting to know i’m not alone. So maybe God is using you in ways you just aren’t aware of as much.

Thanks for recognizing that my feelings are not that strange. Yes, I struggle with this that is why I always try to thank the Lord for what he has given me. I often feel that I should be doing more for the Kingdom, but this feeling has led me down some dead ends. So, I just throw my hands up in the air. Then I think: How silly of me to assume that God would want me to do something that important! I then feel foolish for stepping out of my comfort zone and stepping into the deep, which is what I thought we were expected to do!

When all is said and done, I come to the conclusion that special opportunities and special tasks are given to special people. I DO NOT doubt God’s love but there are times when I sure feel that he has special plans for only a few of us–the rest of us live lives of quiet uncertainity.