St. Michael and the Devil by Poulakis Theodoris (Wikimedia Commons).Dear readers, how is your spiritual life? Is your heart at peace? Do you have a deep, abiding joy? Is your faith stronger than ever? Is your prayer flourishing?
Or is your heart full of anxiety? Do you fear for the future of your loved ones? Do you doubt God’s goodness? Are you on the brink of despair over your sins?
God does not want you to live a life of fear, doubt, or frustration. But the Devil does.
Lately I have felt like the Devil is trying to stop me from spreading St. Therese’s vision of trust and love. He doesn’t want people to surrender their lives to God. He knows what will follow–lives drastically changed.
Two weeks ago I held a Google+ Hangout with some special readers. We had technical problems, but that was normal. The technology was new to all of us, and I am not especially savvy at these things.
Then my book blog tour for Trusting God with St. Therese began. One blogger had difficulty posting my slide show. Okay, these things happen. But here’s how the rest of the tour went:
- On four blogs my comments, and sometimes others’, disappeared.
- I had the wrong blog address for another day.
- One woman’s server was down the morning of her post. I was able to access it after a few hours, but readers told me they couldn’t do so until the next day.
- Another post went up very late.
- Only the last day’s post went up without a hitch.
Besides that, one fellow blogger had to bow out of the tour because of severe anxiety. Another had a fire on her farm after the tour. Thankfully, no one was hurt, although damage was serious. A third is facing a financial crisis. And last night a scheduled Skype interview for another blog had to be cancelled because we couldn’t get the recording apparatus to work.
Now, all these things could be coincidences. Some of them probably have nothing to do with my book. But it’s a few too many coincidences for me to think the Devil is not involved. It reminds me of when I wrote my recent post on resisting temptation by the Devil and my site went down–until I prayed to St. Michael. Then it immediately came back up. Coincidence again, or something else?
I believe that if we learn to trust God completely, we will be saints. I have a long way to go in trusting God. But I have also seen some dramatic changes in my life over the last eighteen months. The Devil doesn’t like this. He doesn’t want more people to trust God. He doesn’t want you to trust God.
But God is in control. After being stressed out over several of the small incidents during the blog tour, I was able to remain at peace when the Skype interview failed. If this is harassment from the Devil, God is allowing it. Why? Perhaps to strengthen my trust.
You see, no matter what happens, good or evil, it can be a vehicle for trusting God more. It can be a means of our salvation and sanctification. That’s why we don’t have to fear anything. God always wins, if we let Him.
Dear friends, I need your prayers for protection for myself, my loved ones, and those bloggers and authors who have helped me so much to spread the message of trust. Can I count on you to pray for us? Will you pray that the message gets out, despite the wiles of the Devil? Will you pray that my trust grows through the challenges I am facing?
Know that I am praying for all my readers daily. I have spent many nights up late writing my books or my blog posts to help and encourage you. I have offered little sacrifices and acts of love for some of you who have shared your struggles with me. We are in this together. We are all still on the journey toward perfect trust.
God bless you and relieve you of all your burdens.
Connie Rossini
Theresa
Enclosed in prayer Connie! There are no coincidences as far as I am concerned. I am happy that you are persevering as our dear St. Teresa of Jesus would encourage you too : )
Connie Rossini
Thanks, Theresa. I hope everyone is at peace in your household. I just heard from another friend who posted a review on Amazon that she has had numerous problems since doing so–including a trip to the hospital for her husband. St. Michael protect us all.
Jim Kearney
A couple thoughts. Many Catholics have not been taught the rudiments of Spiritual Warfare. We can, in the Name of Jesus, command Angels into the battle and demand that all demonic opposition be seized, pinned and bound. This should be automatic with all of our projects that will advance God’s will and the benefit of souls. But I think there is also value to occasional interference because it reminds us that old hairy legs and his minions are around and on the job. Just always trust that OUR friends are a lot bigger than Satan and his fiends.
Connie Rossini
Jim, sorry this was stuck in my spam folder for a bit! Amen to everything you said. I asked my brother Fr. Michael Mary to pray for me and immediately everything I talked about here turned around.
Patty
By any chance is your brother a monk in the Carmelite monastery in Wyoming? I think I’ve seen his name mentioned in some of the newsletters they send me from time to time. They are one of my favorite charities.
Connie Rossini
Patty, yes! Fr. Michael Mary is the creator of Mystic Monk Coffee. I am very blessed to have him as a brother.
barbaraschoeneberger
Connie, I wrote a review of your book at Amazon. The demons of hell certainly can interfere with electronic communication and I’ve had similar experiences to yours. It’s always when we are doing something noble for God. We must never give up when we are doing God’s will. At Lauds this morning I was reading Psalm 42, “Judge me, O God” and thought of you. There’s a line in it that fits with your theme of trust in God, in fact those very words. God bless you.
Connie Rossini
Thanks, Barb! Yes, I prayed that too. I saw your review the other day. I’m so grateful you took the time to post it. Nlessings to you too.
Kerry
Your post is very timely. I was just talking to a priest friend yesterday about how I feel called to homeschool, but when it comes down to digging in, I am overwhelmed with anxiety and fear. It’s paralyzing. I fear greatly for the world my children will grow up to live in. Dealing with many tragic things in my family in Louisiana. I think I need to read your book. Thank you for your example of trust.
Connie Rossini
Kerry, fear for my children has been my greatest fear. We can’t make decisions for them and our world is not going to help us keep them on the narrow road. But if we completely surrender ourselves to God, we need fear nothing. He will delight in answering our prayers. He wants them in Heaven more than we do. God guide you to whatever His will is for your children.
Susan
Hello Connie,
I prayed for you right now, and will continue to pray for you. Your writing has touched many people, myself included, and that’s why the devil is up to his old tricks trying to put a stop to it! But yes, God is always in control.
Connie Rossini
Thanks, Susan! It’s so helpful to know that other people are praying for me and with me. Today has been a really good and peaceful day, so that must be due to all the extra prayers going up for me. Blessings.
JimWilton
This confirms what I have always thought — IT people are the devil incarnate.
Susan
ha ha, I agree!
Connie Rossini
Haha, Jim. I’d prefer to say that computers are the Devil’s spawn. But then, where would I be without them? Certainly not replying to your comment. So God can use even the Devil’s spawn for good.
Rob Henderson
I am adding you to my prayer list. I am really enjoying your book and will endorse it on Amazon Canada when I fined
Connie Rossini
Thanks, Rob! I so appreciate the reviews. And the prayers!
Abbey
It came time for me to hire help in my bakery – and God explicitly pointed the person out to me. On his first day which was a trial run, several “this never happens!” type events occurred. At the tail end of it, my daughter tells me that my picture of our Blessed Mother has fallen off the wall… At least I knew I was following God’s direction for me (I hired out of obedience because I was too scared to take that step on my own) and that good things were going to come of it, else the devil wouldn’t have been so bothered!
Michelle
I was on vacation and typed out a decent sized comment only to have it disappear in an instant when I clicked into the email box. It actually spooked me for a second, but only proves to me how powerful this little way of trust and love really is.
Connie Rossini
You’ve missed a whole lot of extra drama, Michelle, that is ongoing. One of the blogs that hosted my tour seems to have completely disappeared. I’m trying to find out if this was done on purpose. No indications of that on FaceBook. Please keep everyone in your prayers.
Liza
Hi Connie,
I am a secular carmelite and we are studying St. Therese’s book ‘Story of a Soul’. But this so amazing that I come across your article about trust. I am going through so many health issue (my husband, too); losing my job but this is the big kicker losing my ministry with the youth in my parish because of Adoration and teaching the truth of Our Holy Mother Church. Please pray that I will totally trust in our awesome God!! Praying for you also!
Connie Rossini
Thanks for your prayers, Liza. I had to give up my memberships in OCDS a few years ago, due to distance and our growing family. It was really difficult and took me a while to be at peace. I had to accept that God’s plan for me was different than my own. God cannot be hindered by circumstances outside our control–only by our lack of openness to His grace. God is in control of your life at all times. If you learn to surrender to Him, all this will work for your good. I will indeed pray for you and your husband.