We are a society that wants instant gratification. Everything around us speaks to it. From music to advertisements, we are told this or that will make us happy, but the truth is, it does not, or at least not in the long term. True happiness only comes from union with God. Because of our desire for instant gratification, it is hard for us to be patient even when it comes to trusting God with our healing and believing in His love for us.
We have somehow lost the concept of patient waiting, instead looking to our “feelings” to gage reality, when in fact our feelings are often very far from what is truth.
In healing from abortion many women and men want it,”right here, right now”. They are looking for that instant gratification unable to separate the forgiveness of God from the consequence we may have as a result of our decision. Because you may face pain does not mean you have not been forgiven if you have confessed. There are often consequences to the damage we have done to ourselves that need to be worked through. All the suffering will not disappear in an “instant”, in fact, it is this suffering that is often the catalyst that draws us closer to God, heals us deeply, and teaches us how to love with true love.
Although anything is possible with God, healing does not come in a day or a weekend. I always cringe when I hear this promise made. Healing comes in God’s time not ours because He knows better that we do what we need. The promise of instant gratification sets people up to believe God loves others and not them(a fulfillment of the stinking thinking of those post abortive…”My sin is unforgivable”) instead of trusting He is working in their lives, even when they may be in pain. Like the people in the gospel who asked for a sign, we are always asking God to prove His love for us in a way that is accepting to us. In spite of the poor choices we may have made in life, we still feel we know better than He does!
As we struggle with the pain of our abortions, may each of us trust in God enough to know He is healing us even when we do not “feel” it. May we seek always His will, instead of our own, knowing that is where our healing takes place.
"He is bringing me to understand deeply how everything depends on His will,
and how He allows certain difficulties precisely for our merit ..."
— Diary of St. Faustina, 1409
