Psalm 77:7-8. "Will the Lord spurn for ever, and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love for ever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time?"

I think we all feel this way at times. Sometimes our trials go on for so long (sometimes even for our entire lives!), that it seems God really does not love us, or has stopped loving us. But we know that is not true! We know His love for us is so incredibly deep and strong that He created us, and this beautiful world for us; He sent His Son to save us; He allowed His Son to be killed to reunite us to Him! If there is anything we can be certain of in this life, it is that God loves us and always wants what is best for us.

We should therefore set God's love as the firmest foundation of our lives and build everything on that. We should look at everything through that lens, and that lens only: "God loves me, so this struggle I am going through is meant for my betterment." "God loves the world, so these wars, natural disasters, diseases, corrupt leaders, etc. will not destroy it, and will serve, through chastisements, to bring about a better future." "God loves my neighbor, so even when she is hurting me, I must love her, too, and pray for her salvation."

Day 8 of the Surrender Novena asks us to let ourselves be carried away on the flowing current of God's grace. Sometimes that current is strong, and takes us through dark, scary waters, but we must never doubt that He is directing it and we will be carried to where we are meant to be. The danger comes when we find the current too strong, and cling to something other than God for safety, halting our progress. God does give us comforts along the way, but when we become too attached to them, we can use them to thwart His plan for us. Then we see the current as raging, dark waters, leading to a place we no longer trust to be good, and we avoid it all the more. This is when hopelessness can set in; we can't see that just around the bend, those raging waters flow into a deep, peaceful pool.

It is never fun when our current gets rough, especially when it is rough for a long time. But if we remember that below the churning waters, we are buoyed by God's most loving of hands, we will have the grace to endure, and to learn the lessons we are meant to learn from our difficult times. In His great love, God will reward us all the more if we trust Him fully even while in the roughest of waters.