C
Chris_W
Guest
I apologize for the length of this post, but if the readers can bear its length, I have what I think is a question of some depth.
I was raised Catholic. But it wasn’t until a personal crisis at the age of 21 that my spiritual life began. Later I realized that this trial had been really the cause of my spiritual awakening.
Some time later I married a non-Catholic woman. After 3 years of a troubled marriage, and after almost a year of trying to get up the courage, I prayed the most difficult prayer of my life (thus far). I prayed, “God, I put myself completely in your hands. I trust you, and I ask that you put into our lives whatever is needed to bring about unity of faith between me and my wife.” I was afraid to make this prayer because I feared how God would answer my prayer.
A year later my wife became pregnant. 5 months into the pregnancy we learned that our son would not live outside the womb. All of the doctors we consulted insisted we should abort the pregnancy. Thank God, my parents convinced us not to do this terrible evil. She bore our son at full term and indeed he died 40 minutes later.
Although the situation was awful and we shed many tears, I had a certain peace believing God was working in our lives. Through the following years, and I am convinced this is due to dealing with this crisis, my wife became Catholic, and remains Catholic today, praise God.
I have concluded that God can and will put into our lives what we need in order to find Him. Now I am questioning what to do with this conclusion.
My sister (also raised Catholic) married an atheist. He is a very wealthy man and they seem to want for nothing. They have two beautiful children, a large piece of property and a couple million dollar house. They live life without consequence, or so it seems. This abundance has led to both of them feeling like they do not need God for anything. My sister has since renounced her faith, and their children are being brought up as atheists.
Seeing how crisis has led to conversion in my own life, and the life of my wife, I have what is perhaps an odd appreciation for crisis. Part of me longs to pray that God will put whatever is necessary into the lives of my sister’s family, to bring about change of heart. But again I fear the consequences of that prayer. I fear that I would essentially be wishing something bad to occur, and I feel guilt because of that. But I would rather they lose their wealth, and even their home, than to see any one of them die denying God. But I fear even worse…someone losing their health. So I have not made that prayer. But I can’t get past the feeling that God is just waiting for me to ask. Not that I think God will inflict something terrible, but may allow it to occur for the ultimate good, as I believe He did in my life.
Please help me clarify my thinking.
I was raised Catholic. But it wasn’t until a personal crisis at the age of 21 that my spiritual life began. Later I realized that this trial had been really the cause of my spiritual awakening.
Some time later I married a non-Catholic woman. After 3 years of a troubled marriage, and after almost a year of trying to get up the courage, I prayed the most difficult prayer of my life (thus far). I prayed, “God, I put myself completely in your hands. I trust you, and I ask that you put into our lives whatever is needed to bring about unity of faith between me and my wife.” I was afraid to make this prayer because I feared how God would answer my prayer.
A year later my wife became pregnant. 5 months into the pregnancy we learned that our son would not live outside the womb. All of the doctors we consulted insisted we should abort the pregnancy. Thank God, my parents convinced us not to do this terrible evil. She bore our son at full term and indeed he died 40 minutes later.
Although the situation was awful and we shed many tears, I had a certain peace believing God was working in our lives. Through the following years, and I am convinced this is due to dealing with this crisis, my wife became Catholic, and remains Catholic today, praise God.
I have concluded that God can and will put into our lives what we need in order to find Him. Now I am questioning what to do with this conclusion.
My sister (also raised Catholic) married an atheist. He is a very wealthy man and they seem to want for nothing. They have two beautiful children, a large piece of property and a couple million dollar house. They live life without consequence, or so it seems. This abundance has led to both of them feeling like they do not need God for anything. My sister has since renounced her faith, and their children are being brought up as atheists.
Seeing how crisis has led to conversion in my own life, and the life of my wife, I have what is perhaps an odd appreciation for crisis. Part of me longs to pray that God will put whatever is necessary into the lives of my sister’s family, to bring about change of heart. But again I fear the consequences of that prayer. I fear that I would essentially be wishing something bad to occur, and I feel guilt because of that. But I would rather they lose their wealth, and even their home, than to see any one of them die denying God. But I fear even worse…someone losing their health. So I have not made that prayer. But I can’t get past the feeling that God is just waiting for me to ask. Not that I think God will inflict something terrible, but may allow it to occur for the ultimate good, as I believe He did in my life.
Please help me clarify my thinking.
. So how can you worry that asking God to come into their lives is the greater evil? And you cannot know that how God fulfills the prayer will be the same as how He answered yours, for them, losing everything might harden their hearts against Him and He may know that, He deals with each of us as individuals. He is obviously calling to you for your trust in Him, so answer it and pray for them. It is all you can do. He is asking you for faith and to trust in Him and His mercy in all things. Thank Him for all He has done for you and that He may have mercy on your sister as well. Leave it as that and don’t worry so about wishing harm on your sister. The only harm would be to not wish her to have God in her life. As always, just my opinion. Some days it’s more dogmatic than others, so you’ll have to take it as just mine, no matter how it sounds 
.