A hard statement to believe because it seems in our eyes, he is asking is to do the impossible. To live a Holy life, to forgive people that you truly hate. Yes, a harsh word "hate" but for some it is very true. To stand firm in your faith even when people look down on you or avoid you because of it. It seems so easy to give in to the world’s influences. You convince yourself it is ok, and after a while you don't give it another thought. Gregory of Nyssa (330-395 AD), an early church father wrote: “God never asks his servants to do what is impossible. The love and goodness of his Godhead is revealed as richly available. It is poured out like water upon all. God furnishes to each person according to his will the ability to do something good. None of those seeking to be saved will be lacking in this ability, given by the one who said: ‘whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward.’” Do you allow the love of Christ to transform your heart that you may treat your neighbor with kindness and mercy? The Spirit will move you if you are open to it. So what you believe is impossible is God getting you to open your wings. He is stretching them so you can soar like the eagle soars. He is our maker who knows better what you are capable of. Don't dismiss what seems impossible. Look at it in a new light.
Prayer can be one way to help us through the impossible moments in our lives. The saints have some important things to teach us about prayer. According to St. Cyprian, “If He Who was without sin prayed, how much more ought sinners to pray!” St. Ephrem advises us, “Do nothing at all unless you begin with prayer,” and St. Teresa of Avila informs us that “You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.” However, she also warns us that we’re not really praying unless we try to remember to Whom we’re speaking, and try to remain focused on what we’re saying. St. Paul of the Cross instructs us, “Remain in the presence of God. . . . Rest in His bosom, like a child on its mother’s breast, with full and deep confidence,” and St. Jane Frances de Chantal advises, “Follow your own way of speaking to the Lord: sincerely, lovingly, confidently, and simply, as your heart dictates.” This advice was followed by St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower, for she said, “I tell God what I want quite simply, without any splendid turns of phrase, and somehow He always manages to understand me.”
That’s why you pray and ask God for his supernatural help. God told Jeremiah, who lived at the same time as Daniel: “Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own”
As we live our lives ask Him to show you that all things are possible with God and know that He is with you always in those impossible…possible moments.
God bless,
Deacon Mike