Lenten Reflection by Meghan Freeman

MT 7:7-12
Often times, people get angry with God, because we feel as if He is not answering our
prayers. We put on blinders and we get so set in how we believe that things should play out in
our lives that we get frustrated when things don’t work out exactly the way we want them to and
have a hard time bouncing back. In our times of struggles, it can be hard to remember that God
already has a plan for us, and that the hardships and setbacks we face are simply tools He uses to
push us in the right direction. Our well intentioned prayers with God can too quickly become a
list of demands, and we become angry when things don’t go our way because we forget that “no”
and “not yet” are still answers from God, even if that is not what we want to hear at the time.
Today’s Gospel from Matthew 7:7-12 tells us “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you
will find; knock, and the door will be open to you.” God knows the desires in our hearts, and
understands what is best for us. As children of God, we must pray, not that we can end up where
we want to be, but rather, we must pray that we can end up where God wants us to be. We must
seek to be the best possible version of who God knows we can be, and trust in His intentions for
us. During this Lenten season, instead of getting frustrated when are prayers are not answered the
way we want them to be, we must have faith in God’s plan for us, and try to live our lives
according to his will, knowing that he will always care for those who seek to live in His light.
This Gospel ends with one of the most important concepts in the Bible, “Treat others as
you would like them to treat you.” In our lives it is so easy to justify our wrong actions towards
another person because of things that have happened to us, and it is even easier to justify the
wrong actions of those around us because we believe the responsibility does not fall on us. This
Gospel challenges us to look past our feeble justifications and treat others as we would like to be
treated, and stand up to actions that sacrifice the dignity of another person. This Lent we must
work on recognizing and accepting what we know is right and wrong and act on these
revelations and we must also find the courage to stand up to those fail to treat others the way
they would like to be treated themselves.