Stubborn as a....

The wisdom spoken about in Corinthians is a wisdom that comes from God, and dwelled in the hearts of Adam and Eve when God created them; and ironically, a wisdom they forfeited when they chose to eat from the tree of knowledge. After they ate the fruit they grew in world knowledge; they now knew sin. This worldly knowledge led them-and later, us- to rationalize our sinful behavior.

I look back a few years ago to a time in which by my own standards of right and wrong I saw myself as wise, but now see as foolish when measured by the Wisdom of God. One of my best friends and I got into an argument, it was a foolish argument about directions to a house (stupid and futile right?). I saw myself as right, and I saw this argument as justified because I saw my perspective as correct, while he was wrong. (Keep in mind we are talking about directions to a house here!)

Our argument-which shouldn’t have lasted longer than a day-spread to weeks; weeks turned into months, and months into years. During this time, I couldn’t tell how much of a downward spiral my life was taking; I was like a frog in water slowly boiling. Then my best friend took me to his church, where the preacher happened to be talking about Matthew 5:23-24, when Jesus says:

“Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar,
and there recall that your brother
has anything against you,
leave your gift there at the altar,
go first and be reconciled with your brother,
and then come and offer your gift.”

I knew God was speaking directly to me. God was telling me to suck up my pride and forgive my friend-and ask for forgiveness.

Once we had reconciled, our friendship was renewed and almost immediately I felt God’s graces coming back to me. He had never left me; I had just felt further and further away from God while I was feuding with my friend. But that simple “I am sorry” and “I forgive you” were the open door God was looking for to step back into my life and bless me.

Mathieu Gascon is a WVU student and member of St. John’s.
Question of the Week:
When has my stubbornness prevented me from doing God’s will? Is there something God is calling me to now that I am resisting?