Reflection of the Week - 4th February 2025

By Henri Nouwen

Posted Feb  4, 2025 in Faith

How an Obstacle Becomes a Door

"… we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies." - Romans 8:22

Without patience, our expectations turn into mere wishful thinking. The word ‘patience’ comes from the Latin patior, meaning ‘to suffer’. The first promise Jesus gives us is that of suffering: ‘I tell you; you will weep and mourn… and your sorrow will turn into joy.’ These, He calls "birth pains." What seems like an obstacle can, in God's hands, become a way forward; what feels like a hindrance can transform into a door; what appears to be a misfit may, in time, become the cornerstone.

Jesus takes our history — full of sorrow and seeming accidents — and transforms it into a constant opportunity for a change of heart. To wait patiently, then, is to allow our grief and struggles to be the refining process that prepares us to receive the joy that is promised.

Reference

Henri Nouwen, How an Obstacle Becomes a Door - Henri Nouwen

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