Theme: Faith and Divine Help

Strength and faith

Juquinha was studying for the test but he had struggle to understand the subject. He started to feel insecure.

— This subject is very difficult! I don't think I'll be able to learn a thing. I'm going to fail the test tomorrow! What am I going to do? — he thought, worried.

The boy then went to ask his mother for help and explained what was happening.

— Calm down, son, I'll help you, yes. I'll read the booklet with you, but first let's say a prayer and ask God for help. Then we'll study hard, and you'll make it! — said the mother confidently.

The boy accepted his mother's help, and they did as she proposed. But while they were studying, still having difficulty with the material, Juquinha asked:

— Mom, why do we pray to God to help me if I'm having to study all this hard stuff the same way? Couldn't God have made me already know a part, or at the same time appear to me and assure me that the test will be easy tomorrow?

The mother smiled and said:

— Juquinha, your question reminded me of a message from the Gospel according to Spiritism, written by Allan Kardec.

Juquinha's mother then went on to explain the book's message to him:

— A man is lost in the desert, almost dying of thirst. With almost no strength, he falls to the ground and asks God to help him. The man waits, but no one appears to give him water. But a good spirit comes to his aid and, unseen, inspires him with the idea of getting up and following one of the paths ahead of him. The man, then, using what strength he still had left, gets up, walks, and manages to see a small river, which fills him with the courage to survive.

— I don't understand — said Juquinha. — What does this story mean?

— Calm down, now comes the explanation and teaching of the message — replied the mother. — If the man is a person of faith, when he finds water, he will thank God saying: “Thank you, Lord, for having encouraged me to get up and given me the idea to follow the right path to that little river”. But if he is a man without faith, he will say, “Nobody helped me, I had to come this far alone. Luckily, I had the idea to go down that path.”

She continued:

— Do you understand now, son? God helps us but does not take away our duty or the merit of our effort. God does not do what is up to us. Sometimes help can come from intuition, from situations that arise or even from people. But our effort is always needed. If God took that away from us, we wouldn't have merit, we wouldn't become strong or evolve. We would always need to wait for things to come to us.

Juquinha thought a little and said:

— I think I understand. We have to have strength and faith! Trusting that God will help with things I don't control and pushing myself and studying as much as I can, because that's my part. That's it?

— That's right! And don't forget to say thank you later, too! — replied the mother.

— Okay, thanks — said Juquinha, smiling. — But let's study now, because I'm still going to have to make a lot of effort to learn all this!

Juquinha studied and God helped him, because he managed to do well in the test the next day. And he learned many things, especially how to strengthen his faith.

Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com

marcelapradacontato@gmail.com