ACCEPT AND REJOICE

ACCEPT AND REJOICE

 

"Whatever happens, it is divinely ordained and it is hence good for us" –Sri Sai Satcharitra, ch. XX

 

As you draw closer to God, you will realise, more and more, that there is a meaning of mercy in all that happens. God is All-Love and He is All-Wisdom. He is too loving to punish, too wise to make a mistake. Therefore, let me not seek to escape from any experience which comes to me from God. Let me not submit passively to the experience but let me move on to greet it, knowing that it brings me a message from the Lord – a message which will enrich my life. Let me accept and rejoice!

 

Sir Henry Lauder's only son was killed in world War I. He said to a friend: "When a man comes to a thing like this, there are just three ways out of it – there is drink; there is despair; and there is God. By His Grace, the last is for me."

 

Many things happen in life: we are unable to understand the why of them all. Suddenly, our dear ones are snatched away from us; suddenly a calamity befalls us; suddenly, a misfortune overtakes us. Instead of wasting our time and energy in enquiring why such a bitter experience entered into our life, let us move forward to greet every incident and accident, every illness and adversity, every misfortune and calamity, with the words: "I accept! I accept!"

 

In the Divine Providence, nothing happens but happens for our good. Nothing comes a moment too soon or late; everything comes in its own true time. God's clock is never too slow. We do not see the Providence at the time. Not until afterwards may it be revealed to us that our disappointments, hardships, trials, and the wrongs inflicted on us by others are part of God's good Providence towards us, full of blessing. Everything that happens to us comes to bless us and lead us onward in our way. Therefore, wherever God keeps me, let me remain; wherever He sends me, let me go! Let me seek refuge at His Lotus-feet, surrendering all my problems to Him, knowing that in God is a solution to every problem. Let me greet every happening with the words: "I accept! I accept!"

 

Everything that happens to us comes to bless us and lead us onwards in our way.

 

Rubbi Buman once picked up a pebble from the ground, looked at it, and put it back exactly where he had found it, and said: "He who does not believe that God wants this pebble to lie in this particular place, does not believe at all."

 

The man who surrenders himself to God, the Heavenly Father, is taken care of at every step, in every round of life. He knows that his Father is in charge and so nothing can ever go wrong. A botanist saw some rare flowers at the foot of a cliff. He couldn't think of any other way to reach them but to tie a rope to his small child's waist and lower him until he could pick the flowers.

 

"Aren't you afraid, little one?" the child was asked.

 

"Why should I be when my father is holding the rope?"

 

Acceptance is not passive submissiveness: acceptance is active participation in working out God's plans. Sadhu Vaswani said: "Not unoften, God upsets our plans to set up His own." And God's plan are Perfect. Let us do our best to achieve goals in view. If, inspite of our best efforts, we do not succeed, we must not grieve not shed tears, but adopt the friendly attitude: "Whatever has happened, has happened for the best. Whatever will happen, will happen for the best." When Henry Ford was seventy five he was asked the secret of his life. "The secret," he answered, "is a three-fold one. I do not overeat. I do not worry too much. And if I do my best, I believe that what happens, happens for the best." Not my will, but Thy Will be done, O' Lord! I accept! I accept! Tell me what thou wouldst have me do next!

 

Norman Vincent Peale, in one of his illuminating books, gives us a story of the famous Danish sculptor, Thorvaldson. He had finished a clay model of Christ with face looking towards heaven and arms extended upward.

 

Thorvaldson looked with deep satisfaction at the imperious figure of a conqueror. That night, sea mist seeped into the studio of the Sculptor. The clay relaxed, the head and arms dropped. Thorvaldson was bitterly disappointed, as he saw the figure the next morning. But as he looked again and again at the face of Christ, something happened to him. He found Christ looking down with love and compassion. This was surely a greater conception. That statue, Come Unto Me, became immortal.