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
Material de apoio para evangelizadores:
Clique para baixar:
Atividades
marcelapradacontato@gmail.com