Monday of the 2nd Week of Eastertide
Acts 4:23-31
Jn 3:1-8
“The wind blows wherever it pleases; you hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.”
VUCA: Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous. This term was first coined in 1987 and I heard it back about three years into my career. I have always thought that this was applicable mainly to the business world, to the secular world. Oh, how wrong I was. I realized that living my life as a follower of Christ meant that I would always be living in a VUCA world.
Think about Abraham in the Old Testament. One moment he was comfortable with his life in their village, the next, he was asked to transplant himself to a ‘land (God) will show (him).’ Think about the last minute call of God to Abraham to stop him from sacrificing Isaac. That would have involved a lot of emotional somersaults.
Or think about the lives of the Israelites. One moment, the Pharaoh agrees to free them, the next he changes his mind. One moment they were allowed to leave, the next, they are chased by the Pharoah’s army. What about their lives in the desert? They didn’t know where they would get water or bread for the next day. If that’s not enough, God even instructed them to gather provisions only for the day.
In the New Testament, the Apostles and the disciples of Jesus, too, would live in uncertainty. At any point in time, they could be killed. Jesus also instructed them to provide themselves ‘with no gold or silver, not even with a few coppers’. So how would they survive?
I think all this is telling us that while we live in a VUCA world, we can be sure that God will lead us and provide for us. We won’t always understand why things are happening as they are. It will be difficult to see if any of the things God is asking us to do would make sense. But we will know one thing for certain — that if any of our endeavors are through the movement of the Holy Spirit, we will be unable to destroy or stop what should take place (Gamaliel Principle). And since all things that come from God is good, then we can be certain that all things happening, and which will happen, will be for our good. ‘We know that by turning everything to their good God cooperates with all those who love him, with all those that he has called according to his purpose.’ (Romans 8:28).
As we end this reflection, let us meditate on how VUCA the Holy Family’s life had been. Mother Mary had to trust God that He will iron out what was necessary so that her pregnancy could progress. St Joseph had to trust God to take Mother Mary as his wife, to bring his family to Egypt and back. As for Jesus, during his public ministry, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’
As such, we shouldn’t be surprised when we experience VUCA living out our Christian Faith. And let us be certain that God will always have our good in his mind.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Stephanie Villa)
Prayer: Dear Lord, help me live in this uncertain times with faith and hope that you got this J
Thanksgiving: Thank you, Lord, for giving so many examples of people who lived in uncertainty following you, and for letting us know that our hope will not be in vain.
OXYGEN 
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