It's not as hard as it sounds!

How many times have we failed to act when action was clearly called for?  For instance, not speaking out against racism or refusing to help another human being in immediate need; even the simplest deeds, like wearing a face mask during this time of pandemic, no matter how uncomfortable it feels, or if we perceive it is an infringement on our freedom. 

"Be still and know that I am God" (Psalms 45:10) is not a recommendation to lead a life of complete passivity.  How many times have we said, "Let God do it - or let anyone else do it -just leave me alone in peace and quiet, I'm not equipped to take action."?

There is, unhappily, precedent for this attitude.  When God appeared to him, the prophet Isaiah said, "Woe is me, I am doomed!  For I am a man of unclean lips...yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!"   Isaiah was well aware of his own sinfulness, and he shrank back into himself, telling God that he shouldn't be the one sent.  God sent an angel with a burning ember to press against the lips of Isaiah. Feeling cleansed, Isaiah said, "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send?" "Who will go for us?" "Here I am, Lord. Send me." (Isaiah 6:1-8)

Contrast this with the words of the prophet Jeremiah, when God called him to speak to His people, Israel. "Ah, Lord God!" I said, "I know not how to speak; I am too young."  Well, perhaps he was young; but God would speak to His people through the man He had chosen anyway. (Jeremiah 1: 4-19)

And when God told Moses that he was to go to Egypt, to lead God's people out of their bondage, Moses asked, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?"  All Moses wanted to do was to tend the flock of sheep that he was responsible for.  Yet the divine Shepherd called to a human shepherd to help Him save His people from the grip of the Egyptian Pharaoh.  God’s response to Moses was simply, "I will be with you...”  (Exodus 3: 11-12)

Both Moses and Jeremiah were understandably worried.  Neither had a gift for speech.  I’ve read that some scholars think that Moses had a stutter.  Why was God calling to them?  Didn't “He who knows all things” know what imperfect instruments they would be?  Shouldn't He find someone else?  God said to Jeremiah, when he pleaded not to be sent because of his youth, “But the Lord answered me, ‘Say not ‘I am too young.’ To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak.  Have no fear before them, because I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.’”

When we’ve heard an inner call to take action to relieve suffering, to give counsel, to stand by those who need support, to give of our time and our wealth, how many times have we said, "There's been a mistake. Surely You don't mean me, Lord?”  The next time we hear this inner call we should pray, “Please, God, have mercy, and give me the grace to say, as Isaiah said, "Here I am, Lord. Send me."  Hopefully, He’ll comfort our fears with the same words He said to Moses: "I will be with you...”

I doubt that God will produce a burning bush to get our attention.  We still have to listen to that ‘small, still voice’ (1Kings 19), to pray, and to be open to what God has in store for us.  Even if the path seems hard and little traveled, we have to remember that God is with us.  

I have found that it’s not as hard as it sounds.  For a long time, my excuse was that I had to “find time” to pray, but the more time I “found”, the more time became available.  The trick is to offer up the small things we do each day as prayers.  The prayers that seem the most effective are the tasks I do that require some sort of sacrifice of convenience or desire to do something else.  ‘Meditative’ prayers like the Mass, the Holy Rosary, the Daily Office, and Divine Mercy are, of course, essential.  But we can supplement those prayers with the sacrificial ‘prayers’ by performing small acts of love for others, even when they seem unpleasant.  Constant prayer will remind us that Jesus is with us “always, even unto the end of the world.”  (Matthew 28:20)