Daily Encouragement: Day 218
From Handbook to Wisdom, Day 218
NOTHING LESS THAN GOD WILL SATISFY US
God is my strong fortress, and He sets
the blameless free in His way.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
He enables me to stand on the heights.
He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms
can bend a bow of bronze.
You give me Your shield of victory;
You stoop down to make me great.
You broaden the path beneath me, and
my feet have not slipped.
(2 Samuel 22:33–37)
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant
brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus,
that great Shepherd of the sheep,
equip me in every good thing to do His will,
working in me what is pleasing in His sight,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.
(Hebrews 13:20–21)
Six hundred years ago, Julian of Norwich, in her Revelations of Divine Love asked God for the three faithful wounds of contrition for her sins, compassion for others, and an intense longing for God. She wrote, “At the same moment the Trinity filled me full of heartfelt joy, and I knew that all eternity was like this for those who attain heaven. For the Trinity is God, and God the Trinity; the Trinity is our Maker and keeper, our eternal lover, joy and bliss—all through our Lord Jesus Christ. … We have got to realize the littleness of creation and to see it for the nothing that it is before we can love and possess God who is uncreated. This is the reason why we have no ease of heart or soul, for we are seeking our rest in trivial things which cannot satisfy, and not seeking to know God, almighty, all-wise, all-good. He is true rest. It is His will that we should know Him, and His pleasure that we should rest in Him. Nothing less will satisfy us. … We shall never cease wanting and longing until we possess Him in fullness and joy. Then we shall have no further wants. Meanwhile His will is that we go on knowing and loving until we are perfected in heaven. … The more clearly the soul sees the blessed face by grace and love, the more it longs to see it in its fullness.”