Ponder for July #peacebewithyou

We’re in the heart of summer on the Gregorian calendar and Ordinary Time in the liturgical calendar. The traditional Wednesday warning sirens remind us that storms can arise unexpectedly, disrupting the ordinariness of life. These are the moments when we feel we’ve finally got it all together—managing our lives just fine, thank you—with long, full, and contented days.

Each summer, I’m reminded of the Book of Job, when life feels good and the spirit is rested. Job, as you know, had it all: devotion to God, good health, a loving wife, many sons, vast lands, and a menagerie of animals to sustain his people. Then, on a random summer day, catastrophe struck, and he lost everything—everyone he loved, everything he built, gone. Surrounded by death and shrouded in grief, Job faced an added burden: God allowed it to happen.

Three of Job’s friends tried to explain why God permitted Satan to torment him. Eliphaz suggested Job must have unknowingly violated a moral law, earning divine justice. Bildad implied that the sins of Job’s children caused his suffering. Zophar accused Job of deliberate iniquity. Job rejected their explanations yet continued to praise God. None of his friends could adequately explain his suffering, so Job turned his heart to God—as we do when nothing else makes sense.

God’s response reveals that Job’s friends viewed his disasters through the wrong lens. Suffering touches every life, whether holy or profane. We are broken people in a broken world, and suffering is a natural consequence of the Fall. Our role is to praise God in our distress, seeing suffering as an opportunity to witness how Jesus sanctifies earthly pain and trauma.

The truth is, the real storm isn’t what rages around us but what rages within. The modern storm is the Great Illusion: that we’re fine, in control, and don’t need God.

Pain and suffering are part of human existence. St. Paul, no stranger to life’s ups and downs, wrote to the Corinthians that anyone in Christ is a new creation—old ways pass away, and new things come. As Corrie ten Boom reflected, “True peace doesn’t come from the absence of storms but from the presence of God.” Storms will come, as those Wednesday summer sirens remind us. We must be prepared with a plan.

So, while the days are long, full, and content, consider spending extra time with Jesus. Take the kids or grandkids to Adoration, then treat them to ice cream. Read Bible stories by candlelight in the living room. Pray aloud for healing when someone is injured at a game. Shake things up with an early morning meeting with the Lord or plan a day-long retreat for yourself. Storms are inevitable. The question is: Are you ready?

#peacebewithyou