A Glimpse of Spirituality 靈修一瞥151 (Matt 瑪13:18-23)                                                                               

 

What are worries and anxieties about? Lack of faith! Christians sometimes or always worry about their health, family, job, or retirement, hence, there is not enough room for God’s peace in their hearts.

 

It is the same case while the disciples faced the stormy sea with anxiety and resentment, even though Jesus was with them in the boat, sleeping. Jesus’ sleeping actually signified that Jesus had a purpose of keeping on sleeping. However, the disciples were so anxious that their teacher simply ignored their security of lives.

 

The devil knows about the worry and anxiety of people much more than they do. Thus, one of the best weapons of the devil to fight down Christians is arousing their uncertainties of life. That is to say, the devil sows tares in the hearts of Christians in order that they will finally leave God.

 

Jesus said, “Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.” The preposition “on account” (dia) denotes the mental affection by which one is impelled to some act. That is to say, in between God and the world before tribulation or persecution, some Christians prefer worldly security rather than the heavenly. The mindset of these Christians is that it seems impossible to be abandoned by the world for the sake of the word of God.

 

Tribulation and persecution bring them worry and anxiety, like smoke gets in their eyes. In face of uncertainty, they have to grab something and this “something” is the trick of the devil.

 

Faith is a theological virtue because what Christians can offer to God is their endurance of faith during great calamities of life.

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擔憂和焦慮是什麼？缺乏信德！基督徒有時總是擔心他們健康、家庭、工作或退休，因此，心中沒有足夠空間容納天主平安。

當門徒帶著焦慮和抱怨面對狂風巨浪時，情況也是如此，儘管耶穌和他們一起在船上，可是他在睡覺；耶穌繼續睡覺，實際上意味著耶穌有他目的。然而，門徒過度焦慮，抱怨老師根本不顧他們生命安全。

魔鬼比人更了解擔憂和焦慮。因此，魔鬼打敗基督徒最佳武器之一，就是激起他們對生命的迷惘。也就是說，魔鬼在基督徒心中播下莠子，好讓他們終於離開天主。

耶穌說：“但心裡沒有根，不能持久，一旦為這話發生了艱難和迫害，就立刻跌倒了。”介詞“為”（dia）表示人被驅使去做某件事的心理情感；也就是說，在天主和世界之間，在苦難或迫害面前，有些基督徒寧願選擇世俗安全而非天堂永福；這些基督徒的意識形態，為天主聖言而受到世界排斥，萬萬不可。

苦難和迫害帶給基督徒擔憂和焦慮，就像煙霧蒙蔽眼睛。面對迷茫前路，心理上必須抓住一些東西，而這”東西”正是魔鬼詭計。

信德是神學美德，因為基督徒可以奉獻給天主的，是在人生災難中對信德的堅持。