And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8
“My daughter, I assure you of a permanent income on which you will live. Your duty will be to trust completely in My goodness, and My duty will be to give you all you need. I am making Myself dependent upon your trust: if your trust is great, then My generosity will be without limit.”
Helena Kowalska, known widely as Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938) and as the Apostle of Divine Mercy, in Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul (Stockbridge: Marian Press, 2005) 156.
I am continuing to look at books with “divine” in the title. This is another one. Long before Jesus Calling books became popular, we have the diary of St. Faustina. It’s a treasure recounting the life of an ordinary polish girl who simply desired only to be one with her Lord Jesus Christ.
In her first year at the convent, she was to determine if trusting God to care for her needs would be her way of life. She was praying about it, and today’s post recounts the words she heard from the Lord when pouring out her heart to him about her need for perpetual provision. What’s the lesson?
If we come to God in humility and trust Him for provision, His generosity will be without limit. His abundant grace and divine mercy will literally make it His duty to supply all we need. The challenge is that it requires us to have trust that is great.
When the idea of “permanent income” comes into view, most people think it is the human responsibility to sort this. In the world’s economy, that is true. But nothing could be further from the truth in God’s economy. Jesus teaches us to seek God first, and like Faustina, to trust Him to care for our needs.
If we want to live lives of rich generosity, then we must trust God for everything. When we do we experience more than permanent income. We get Him. He makes it His duty to care for those who place their trust in Him.
Sadly, most people are not willing to take this step. As G.K. Chesterton said in his classic work, What’s Wrong with the World, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”