To have complete confidence in Jesus is to truly know Him. This confidence in Jesus comes from deeply contemplating the ‘works of His hands’ during His earthly life and His many gifts of grace during ours. It comes from knowing that Jesus is infinite goodness. It is knowing that such goodness is also infinitely merciful. To have complete confidence in Jesus is to know that He has the power to change any situation and perform any miracle, He need only wish it and it will be done. He is not bound by any law of nature or science. To trust in Jesus is to know that He is watching each and every moment of your life as if you were the only person in the world and that He desires to help you in all your difficulties because He loves you with a love that is difficult for humans to fully appreciate.
He is goodness personified in a way that is almost impossible for humans to understand. St. Paul referred to this when he wrote that, “the eye has not seen nor the ear heard what God has in store for those who love Him”. We quiet simply have no idea what Heaven will be like. Complete confidence in Jesus is also an act of faith. It comes from recognising the work of God in one’s life and trusting in His goodness, even during difficult phases of our life. It is knowing that God allows suffering for the benefit of the soul, even if that is a hard concept to fully understand, but this is definitely true.
We must trust that Jesus is honest and truthful. If He tells us that His mercy is infinite, then we must believe Him. When He tells us that He will forgive us each and every time we ask for mercy, we must believe Him because it would be totally and completely impossible for Jesus to tell a lie. Jesus once told St. Faustina, “Who God is in His Essence, no one will fathom, neither the mind of Angels nor of man. Get to know God by contemplating His attributes”. (Diary No. 30).
God is love, mercy, goodness and truth. God is gentle, compassionate, patient and without any limits or restrictions of power. Every saint who has ever lived has spoke about God using these terms. They arose out of their personal insights into the nature of God either through prayer or experience.
Unfortunately, there are so many who just cannot believe that God could love them or forgive them. This is absolutely wrong. As Jesus told St. Faustina, “Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy. I desire that the whole world know My infinite mercy. I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy”. (Diary 687).
Jesus is actually hurt when we don’t trust in His goodness and His love and mercy. He told St. Faustina, “Oh, how much I am hurt by a soul’s distrust! Such a soul professes that I am Holy and Just, but does not believe that I am Mercy and does not trust in My Goodness. Even the devils glorify My Justice but do not believe in My Goodness” (Diary 300). In order to have complete confidence in Jesus we must believe that He is goodness, love and mercy and He has no desire to harm us in any way, even if He permits suffering in our lives. Unfortunately suffering is a part of life and no-one ever escaped this no matter how hard they tried. But this does not mean that we should doubt God’s love for us.
We must overcome these obstacles in our spiritual life and attain the greatest treasure the earth offers, union with God. Our lives offer many entertainments but it is only God who can satisfy the longings of the soul and make life truly special. Only God has the power to turn evil into good and arrange a soul’s affairs in a way that makes life exciting and special for them, for God is the only person who truly knows us. There is something so thrilling about knowing with certainty that some event that has taken place in our life was a gift from God. Knowledge of God and having faith and trust in His goodness, love and mercy are the greatest gifts this world has to offer. And the best of God’s gifts is yet to come!
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