Expect Nothing In Return

Beads of Joy 08-24-10

Expect Nothing In Return
©2010 James Dacey, Jr. SFO

Love of Suffering II
Hello Everyone,

On this day let us reflect upon the privilege to love and serve and honor our Lord in our suffering. When we go full steam ahead in our suffering and we offer it all up to Him for His glory for ourselves and for others; we must not seek anything in return. Our souls have a desire to "cling" to Jesus, and in doing so the soul is completely satisfied in being in His presence alone. Most of this is far from the typical understanding that we can relate to in this life. So many people do things for the mere thought of a reward of getting something in return. Well, that's not so when it comes to our love for our Lord. The pleasure to able to serve and love Him, is our reward, any thing else would be considered to me to be; arrogant presumption. God does not do things the way mankind does. In other words to God, He don't play the "I'll scratch your back so you can scratch mine." mentality. God encompasses many aspects of our lives when He places judgment upon us. I don't have the list handy?, dah, none of us do. LOL. But we do know that God knows our hearts, our intentions and our reasons for doing the things we do.

We might consider this as a way to understand why the soul does not expect anything in return for its suffering that it has endured. Look at the soldiers in most armies and other branches of defense, at least in our country. Now I have never served at all in any capacity, but I have family members and many many friends who have. I have talked to them about the lifestyle and the day to day experiences that they have. I am very patriotic and so I wish to understand how and why the brave men and women so loyally defend our freedoms. One thing they all seem to touch on was their respect for and loyalty to their commanding officers. They have said to me, that is, different people in different conversations say that they were honored to serve a certain commander, and that being loyal to them was important, in doing all that they asked of them. Again another very insightful thought that we can transform into our own spiritual lives and the same relationship our souls have with God.

That simple desire to obey and to be obedient to God alone without any expectation is truly loyalty and love in it's purest form. If we only loved someone, only if they loved us back, what kind of love would that be? We love in love, no matter what in most instances. Yes the love in return is spectacular and truly delightful. But we don't, or at least we shouldn't love, only so that we get loved in return. Jesus taught us and we are to do like He has done in loving others. Here is some scriptural insight, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5. This also confirms the real person hood of the child in the womb, and how Gods hand is on every one of our conceptions. Another insightful scripture, "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." John 17:24.

So in our suffering and the pain we endure, we must never expect anything in return. Yes we love Jesus, yes we give Him every bit of who we are, yes we desire His love. But knowing all that we must still never "expect" anything in return. He freely loves us, we must freely love Him. Love isn't all about, I'll do for you, if you do for me. Rather love is about the sacrifice of giving and giving and giving; for no other reason except for the fact that we love that person. Same goes for God. Let us never arrogantly expect something from God, merely because we gave our love to Him. We must find delight alone in the fact that we have the privilege to love Him. Nothing else about that should have to delight our hearts, even though it does. Like the loyal soldier, we must be thrilled to be able to serve Him. Our loyalty must be ingrained into our hearts. We only wish to serve Him, because of our love and devotion to Him. The mere thought alone is our reward. This is so important in our daily walk with our Lord. If we give Him love over and over again, pretty much non-stop throughout everyday; then we won't be wasting time and energy looking for what it is He is doing for us, because I am worshiping Him. Trust in His love, kindness and mercy, that we know He has for us. Pray these words every single day, "Jesus, I trust in You."


Your brother in Christ Jesus & His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr SFO