Teresa of Avila

Teresa of Avila

2/10/15

Who would God use to send his message to a dying world?  Humans would place a great star to attend to this matter or someone that would draw crowds, because we like to have the spotlight upon ourselves instead of God.  Moses, David, Joshua, and all of the prophets were basic simple men and women who were considered no bodies yet God chose them to live their lives for Him out in front for a dying world to see.  Many of my readers may not have ever heard of Teresa of Avila, I had not until the other day, but God has allowed her to write a beautiful passage that spoke to anyone who wanted to listen during her lifetime and this passage still rings loud and true today for the same dying world.

As stated above, up until a few days ago I had never heard about this short poem that she wrote many years ago but when my eyes laid on it, the passage spoke volumes to me and immediately God showed me some things that He wants to share to us through this poem.  I want to be clear up front and inform my readers that in no way am I advocating this person or raising her up in any way, for this is God’s time and His alone.  Many of you know that I do not take saints seriously, I understand the concepts of their existence and remembrance but that is about it on my level.  Were they important people?  Very much so, but I just do not follow their lives as some denominations do; I guess if God continues to use these people for His messages to us, I will find out more about them.

The saint that I am referring to in this article is Teresa of Avila.  I learned about her from one of my friend’s social media pages and at first I was skeptical about even reading her post, but I am so glad I did because I would have missed the message that God meant for His people back in the 1500s and today.  I guess that is being a “good” Protestant in placing my focus on other things instead of some of the finer details of the Church’s history.  There are many things that we must learn about the Church before we can properly state that we know what is going on within the Church herself; this knowledge must also include the things that we may not like to read about along with those things we easily accept.

The short work that I am referring to I will write in two forms, one is the way that I read it on my friend’s social media page and the other is from another source that I found while reading about who this lady was.  You will see that the words are slightly different but the meaning and content are exactly the same.  I am not changing the words or their form in any way.  The first is how I read this passage on my friend’s page and is as follows:

                        “Let nothing upset you,

                          Let nothing startle you,

                          All things pass,

                          God does not change.

                          Patience wins all it seeks,

                          Whoever has God lacks nothing:

                          God alone is enough”

                                                                        Teresa of Avila

The second example of this passage was presented as follows:

                        “Let nothing disturb you.

                          Let nothing make you afraid.

                          All things are passing.

                          God alone never changes.

                          Patience gains all things.

                          If you have God you will want for nothing.

                          God alone suffices.”

                                                                        St Teresa, The Bookmark of Teresa of Avila

What a beautiful testament and creed for anyone who believes in God to follow and to live by because every word that this person wrote is the exact truth from God.  While I admit I do not know and understand many things about the sainthood and those that were chosen for this title I do recognize why they were deemed as such.  If each “saint” wrote truthful words as this passage it should be thoroughly recognized on every denominational level and referred to on a daily basis.  This short passage is one of passion, faith, hope and love from God and it establishes the ground work for hoe Christians should recognize Kingdom what exactly is at stake as well.

I am going to breakdown this passage line by line to demonstrate what God is saying to us here, for it will sum up some of the things that He has addressed to us for a short while now.  Plus this passage is a very comforting one and should enable the power of peace within our hearts knowing that God is ultimately in control and wins in the end.  The passage also allows us to think about how our society accepts God and how we look at His Word as guidance which I must admit is not in good standing right at the moment.  If one is honest it will grab out the questions that we need to ask ourselves about our relationship with God and then require us to make a choice about our lives.

I will be using the “version” that was on my friends page in reference to this passage as I write for the context is in a modern tongue.  The first line of the passage is “Let nothing upset you”.   Many times throughout the Bible this phrase or some type of close variant is used.  It is a comforting phrase and it should be one that we place within our forebrains because all of us know that we are constantly subjected to adverse life conditions that upset our normal lives.  The interesting word used here is “nothing” which mean that everything has a purpose whether it be for a good purpose or not and it is our responsibility to recognize these instances as such.  The beauty about this line is that the author directs us in such a way that if she understands this process, so should we placing us on an equal plane with our fellow believers.

At some point in our lives we all have been upset with someone or something.  Personal issues always seen greater than others’ problems and for the most part we treat these items accordingly.  This line puts forth the message in Ephesians 4:26 where it guides us that if we are upset do not sin in any fashion and keep true to our example towards the world.  It is very difficult for me to keep my temper sometimes and I must fight back the urge to allow it to present itself. 

Most people who know me have never witnessed me being upset and for the most part I do not become angry much, for it takes a lot to anger me.  But when I do I will always reflect back to the incident and try to see what transpired and how I presented my actions towards that person or the people involved.  Most of the time I realize that I have handled things incorrectly and most of the time go back and apologize for how I acted and learn from that incident and hopefully, not repeat it again.  It is evident that this lady understood what being upset meant and why Scriptures say to control it and do not push the enemy’s kingdom forward by our actions.

The second line of this passage states “Let nothing startle you”.  I remember the first 3D movie that I went to it was when I was very young and the movie was Jaws 3D.  I really did not even have a clue about what was about to happen but I thought those glasses were very cool so I quickly put them on and did not take them off until I was out of the theatre.  The scene I remember the most was when one of the main actors fired a harpoon at the shark and the harpoon came right at those who were in the audience, or at least it seemed this way.  The effects at which the speed of the harpoon was coming at us along with the added colors of the 3D glasses became a scene of hilarity in the audience.  Heads flew back and popcorn and drinks went all over the people around the auditorium, all due to the simple design of the scene that had just been played out.

I know that the setting above is a comical one but it demonstrates how we forget about our surroundings enough to forget how things operate within the world.  People will always do things that will shock you and some of the events that occur around the world can actually make us wonder of how we can continue to exist as a race.  It is not difficult for us to understand that humans can do some pretty ridiculous things in order to get their point or ideas across to others, but we need to remember that this is all part of our enemy’s plan to shake our faith and trust in God and to destroy the one special item that God loves so much.

If we understand Kingdom principles we will realize that all of these “shock” statements and actions are all part of a greater plan to destroy our lives.  It is not God’s will that we be subject to the horrors of the world but He does allow them to occur because of the choices that humans make.  Many who are involved in these types of actions do not understand what exactly takes place within the spiritual realm when they act upon these events and for those of us who witness these events their effects do have a lasting consequence.

Saint Teresa undoubtedly witnessed horrors during her life or at least read or heard about them while she walked this earth. Many of the history lessons that we deem boring today she either lived through or were around when the stories were real and fresh to the people.  I have often wondered how the people of the early 1500s looked upon Pope Alexander VI and what their opinions were about his antics while being pontiff.  What was it like to ride in a horse drawn wagon across the high mountainous regions of Europe just to be turned down for a meeting with another regent?  What about early modern warfare and all of its brutality; talk about post traumatic stress those guys and gals had it.

The author through this writing admits many of these things but because of her knowledge of Kingdom and who controls the earth she tells us that we do not need to be frightened when things of this type arise within our lives or surroundings.  It is imperative that we understand what power our enemy has over the earth and how many people fall into his trap by following in the confines of his hostilities and anger towards life.  She also demonstrates that if we understand this force against us we should expect it to present itself and at the same time know enough about our enemy’s forces as to not fear when turmoil comes into our lives.  It is for this reason that it is a necessity that we be prepared at all times and to recognize what is coming.  All of these things have been addressed within the Bible and it is our responsibility to live by these words of wisdom and not to blatantly ignore their content.

The next line states “All things pass” and how true this statement is displayed.  Items and events pass rapidly into and out of our lives, they leave their marks and then they are gone forever.  Many times we do not fully understand what exactly transpires when these unsettled times appear, but we can always locate their results at some point down the road.  One can look through history and tell when certain times are good and others are devastating and in these times it reinforces the verses in the bible that say God takes and gives away.

It is easy to hold onto these rough situations that affect our lives and it is far more difficult to let them go as well.  One of the human factors that all of us have built inside is a defensive mechanism that many put into play first instead of last.  It is ok for us to remember the things that have occurred in our lives but if we continue to hold tight to those memories we will soon form and shape our future measured upon those holdings.  Ask yourself this question:  what good comes out of you holding on to a memory that occurred years or decades ago that it affects your attitude towards others?  Is that a healthy gesture on your part?  I know that there are some events that have happened in my life that I still hold on to and it is tough to let them go, but God continues to tug at my heart to trust Him with these things and trusting Him to give me the strength to let them go as well; this is a tough assignment for any human.  I have also learned that as long as a person holds onto the storm results we cannot be totally free through God and in Christ.

What if Jesus had held onto those people who did not listen to His message or if He posed any animosity towards the High Priests or Roman soldiers who imprisoned Him and tortured Him?  What kind of hindrance would that action have incurred upon our futures?  Tough times are never easy and sometimes it seems like they can last forever, or that we cannot catch a break.  These storms in our life are forever lasting because God has given us the capability to move away from those storms if we choose to understand them.  As the song goes sometimes God calms the storm and in other times He calms His child.  What a beautiful concept this is and if we follow it’s meaning then no matter what the situation might be we can walk through that storm with God and know that He is right there with us.

My favorite line in this passage and the one that brings me the most comfort and peace is “God does not change”.  This is a truth that many of us seem to have forgotten and have interwoven our changing ideas with God, and this is just not possible.  On every level God cannot change for if He could then He would not be God and would prove Himself to be no better than us dirty, rotten humans.  I am so thankful that when all of the above circumstances crash upon my life I can rest assured that this line is the same no matter what my life presents.  I also find that this line is right in the center of her short passage and that it serves as the centerpiece of the other lines above it and below it.

It is not hard for me to understand that people forget this fact about God, and since people come to accept this forgetfulness it will not be too difficult for us to understand that when people forget this concept their ideas can become jaded.  All of us have reasoned with our parents when we have done bad things.  We have tried to hide things from them and when caught did our best to bargain our way out of the corresponding punishment.  God’s parenting skills are a blessing in that He gives us nudges and warnings long before He has to provide us with a harsher push.  I know that not all people had that opportunity when they were young; I thank God for my parents and the way that they raised me. 

It pains me to watch our society push God out of our lives.  With all of the historical examples that mankind has given us to learn from we are once again clogging our way up life’s journey all by ourselves.  Time and time again history has proven that mankind without God is doomed.  Up until this very moment we have the chance to make god the center of our lives and many of us still choose to ignore this calling.  Given history and what occurs to groups, states, and nations without God we have no one to blame but ourselves.  If God cannot change then we should stop trying to change Him and His laws, life would be so much simpler and easier if we just accept this fact.

The fifth line states “Patience wins all it seeks”.  Patience seeks things?  Kind of an odd statement at first but it makes perfect sense when you stop, be patient and listen to what the words say.  I have no patience.  This is a fact in my life and when I asked God to grant me patience His sense of humor kicked in and He allowed me to have four beautiful daughters.  Patience occurs over time and waiting on something to present itself can break a person’s spirit sometimes, or it would seem to.  Yet waiting for something to occur teaches us a valuable lesson and that is to listen and to watch for the sign that is promised.  This process focuses our lives onto God and His plan for our lives.  Then when we add the above lines together with this line it becomes clear as to how we are supposed to go about our everyday journeys, not relying upon our blind human senses but through the light that God provides for us.

Living in patience also teaches us to wait on God and for His timing in our lives.  If we truly believe that God is in control of our lives then this process should not be hard to accept and follow.  However, being human usually takes over our existence and causes our minds and our ambitions to take the reins and thus direct our every movement.  I fall into this category and then “patiently” wait for God to show me what He wants me to do, to say, or where to go.  If we only would understand that if we do things ourselves it is a guarantee that things will get messed up.  Only God has perfect timing and it is imperative that we understand that it is through His perfect timing and our patience that will accomplish the pushing back of the darkness.

The sixth line of the short passage says “whoever has God lacks nothing”.  This is another phrase that rips my heart into pieces because I have so violated its meaning.  The Bible refers to God providing for a bird so why would He not provide for His beloved children?  One problem however, we have a tendency to forget about what our needs are and push our wants instead.

It is a fact that everything that we have in life comes from God.  It is also a fact that humans like to compete with each other to prove to their compatriots that they can keep up with the “Jones’” in this realm.  When we see others having items or conveniences that we do not it is common for our minds to want one just like it or something else even better, stronger, or prettier; our society loves this type of competition and for the past two to four decades or so has thrived upon these issues. When this type of attitude becomes belief it is easy for us to lose focus on who actually allowed us to have the ability to acquire these toys and gadgets and when this state of mind occurs it is another step away from the One who provides us life.  God does not wish that His children are poor and suffer daily for the necessities of life, but in order for us to understand this true meaning of desires, our focus must remain on God’s gifts and not man’s.

If one takes an objective look at the “popular” people of this society they will soon find out that they are very miserable in life. They must compete with each other in order to keep themselves relevant in their worlds, which is a downgrade in overall life and if continued will produce nothing but pain and suffering when they realize that they are no longer important within their own harems.  This sad state of affairs many times brings tragedy to their lives in which it spills over into the fan base with mourning and grief, all for a seemingly dazzling and glittering end to a redundant life. 

When I was growing up and as I look to the kids of today, I see them patterning themselves after these types of people, which only delves them into a rutted world lifestyle.  They follow in these people’s footsteps, or try to at least, and totally miss what God has in store for their lives.  God’s gifts are not just physical but spiritual as well.  We all know that the physical will pass away but the spiritual is eternal and what happens in our lives if our spiritual gifts are dead and thus we cannot give to others the same gifts as God gave us?  This is something that we need to keep close in our hearts and give freely when at all possible.

The last line in the short passage presents us with a wonderful truth and something that sums up the entire passage and it is “God alone is enough”.  If we keep this statement first in our lives, then all of the previous lines in this passage will fall into place.  It is a guarantee that this will occur because when we allow this statement to be #1 in our lives, we can do nothing else but rely on God to provide every necessity of our existence.  Everything in the world becomes non important and takes its rightful place behind God.  I struggle greatly with the millions of Christians that do not live in this manner and still try and weave themselves into the world.  It is common for people with plenty to believe in this manner and we are the epitome of this mode of thinking.

We have torn God away from our lives and have replaced Him with the ways of the world.  We have ignored the truth about separating ourselves from the world as the Bible has stated over and over.  We have chosen to walk in our own ways and laws instead of examining the truth about why God placed His laws into our lives.  We have gained the gifts of God within our lives and then have bestowed nothing but arrogance and selfishness towards others.  We have incorporated our own idols and gods into our daily lives and began worshiping the one true “self” as god of our world.  We have verbally and legislatively proclaimed that humans are enough and God is no longer needed.  We have replaced God’s love with a humanistic love that accepts all lifestyles instead of understanding that God’s love is specific according to His laws, not His emotions.

When we put God first and live our lives accordingly, God blesses His children, just as we have witnessed for centuries now. God does not mean for us to gain the whole world and lose our selves in return, yet we revel in this gain and lifestyle.  God did not put into place the motions of Old Testament sacrifice just to gain a ritualistic, loveless, and religious concept of redemption and salvation but He meant for it to be a token of our acknowledgment of our sins and as a way of repentance and restoration through Him.  However, we have integrated all of these practices and implanted them into our control instead of God’s, and He shall not forget our choices.

This passage is a beautiful one and it is one that all of us need to place into our daily lives.  No, I am not saying that anyone should become Catholic or change denominations at all; however, we do need to cut out the denominational lines and become one in Christ.  When I was very young, too young to even remember, a story is told about my mother and how physically bad she was at that time.  She was facing many health problems and many of the doctors did not know if she was going to make it or not.  My parents had many “big” people within our denomination come in an pray with her, saying all of the “powerful” words of healing but it was not until a Nazarene woman came into her room and said a simple and short prayer that my mother felt the healing hand of God within her body.  I am not saying that the other people did not have faith but I can say that the little Nazarene woman believed in the healing hand of God and it became evident that day.

We no longer hear about these types of healings and miracles in this society.  It is because we have lost our faith and belief of these words that Teresa of Avila understood the truth about life and how god needs to be the center of our lives and not on the outskirts or fringes.  God loves His children so much and He wants to bless our lives in every way possible.  Not just for this society but for all societies that exist within the world but in order for this to be accomplished we must turn back to Him and obey His laws once again.  It is a nation’s heart that God gathers His resources from because if a nation turns away from Him that means that the majority of the individual hearts have done the same.  God is a just and fair God and will act accordingly to the choices of His people.

Everything in this short passage is true and this little lady has hit it on the head and I am thankful that God allowed me to run across it.  It is important that we as individuals and as a nation turn our physical and spiritual eyes back to God for if we do not our lives and our nation shall never be healed.  The Church is not exempt from this pattern either and we are witnessing a great turn away from God in this setting.  She has chosen to ignore God’s laws and then instead of mourning Her Groom has begun a love affair with the world. This is her choice for her life, not God’s.  But there is a way to restore her life back to a thriving and abundant existence again and it only can come from God which means that she must turn from the world.  God loves His children and wishes to provide every need for each person, but He shall not be able to do this until we turn back to Him.  It is time for us to repent, turn and allow restoration to come into our lives before we find out why God has placed His laws into place.

DLB