The Christian Life IS Impossible

I mean somebody said to say I I told all that to my Confessor I tell all that all that to my spiritual director so maybe suffice it to say I can just tell y'all that I have found that the Christian life is not difficult I have found that it is impossible how many father Mike Schmitz and this is the center presents so I grew up as a swimmer like I grew up competitively swimming ever since I was like six years old my whole family were swimmers and it was just something that we did I was not very good right away it took me a really long time to get remotely decent but I've always been captivated by like Feats of swimming daring or beats of swimming like incredible Feats of swimming I'm trying to say like someone who's you know some across the English Channel or someone who has swung across you know from uh Cuba all the way to the United States I think that's been I think that's happened I know yeah I think it's something like that's happened but years ago I remember hearing about this woman in Vicki Keith Vicky Keith is the first person to ever have swim across all of the Great Lakes and since I live here in Duluth on Lake Superior the greatest of the Great Lakes I just am fascinated by this in fact I've heard of other people trying to swim across particularly Lake Superior because Lake Superior is it's very deadly it's very dangerous it's super cold uh the massive massive waves at any given time even in the middle of the summer the temperatures can be almost freezing it's just it's remarkable and so this woman Vicki Keith in 1988 she's swim across the Great Lakes I heard about other people who had tried multiple times five times seven times nine times and never did it you think though sometimes I guess let's go back to this like you think though with those people who tried and tried and tried and never did it that you know if their training just went just right and if the weather just cooperated with them just perfectly you can imagine that someone who trained enough and worked hard enough and and again things went their way that ultimately they they could they could do it right it'd be a difficult thing but it wouldn't be impossible to swim across Lake Superior as Vicki Heath proved she proved that it's not impossible but I was thinking about this when it comes to the Christian Life and a lot of us look at what it is to be a disciple of Jesus and we we think of it like that we think of it like oh it's like swimming across Lake Superior uh you have to work really hard you have to train a lot and if things go your way and no one gets in your way then you'll be able to do it it's really tough um but you can do it and I would say that uh that's not what a Christian life is all about in fact the Christian Life is is not just difficult the Christian Life is impossible what I mean by that is is it's it's possible it's difficult to swim across Lake Superior it is impossible to walk across Lake Superior in in the summertime sometimes it gets frozen over but like it's impossible to walk on water and yet as Christians that's what we're called to do we're called to actually live The Impossible and I re I'm thinking about this especially because there have been some people have reached out to me and they've said things like listen father Mike I listen to what you have to say and for the most part I I like it I'm grateful that you're doing the thing but they said sometimes you make it sound like it's so easy they say I I can make it sound like yeah being a disciple of Jesus is actually just a piece of cake and it's there's no problems and just just do it just do the thing and I thought wow I maybe I do I I really actually did some introspection and kind of some evaluation of do I make it sound like Christian Life is easy even worse do I make it sound like the Christian life is difficult because ultimately we have to realize this the Christian Life the true a disciple of Jesus it is it's not it's not difficult it's impossible and when you and I are asked to do is something that is beyond our our capacity it's beyond our capabilities you and I are being asked to be like Saint Peter who sees Jesus walking on the water and Jesus says okay come and do what I do walk on water we can't do that on our own we 100 need God's grace and so this is this is the thing of like just being able to look at my own heart and realize oh I don't have the I don't have the abilities to follow after Jesus I don't have the strength of all after Jesus I fail in following Christ on a regular basis I I struggle to follow Jesus on a regular basis even something as simple as this you know I I'm a big Advocate big big advocate for having a regular prayer life and I do have a regular prayer life but there are times when you know it's it's okay it's a busy you know I know it's the worst thing but Sundays are kind of busy for priests and so I have masses and confessions and I have marriage preps and I have other meetings with people on Sundays because that's a lot of days that people can meet on and some some Sundays I get to the end of Sunday I'm like oh my goodness I I haven't taken time away just to be with the Lord he's like oh Father you fell once you know you struggled with that once in 365 days like no it's pretty regular Sunday occurrence where I'm like everyone grab a regular prayer life and here I am looking at myself why because I know it's true and so that's why I'm saying like this is what's true this is what we're all striving for it's all we all should be striving for at the same time maybe I should be maybe it's maybe it's a reality maybe I should share some more struggles the ways in which I I failed to live up to the call of Jesus Christ on a regular basis one of the things that gets in our way is we see all the ways we've fallen and we get discouraged we see all the ways that I'm not strong enough all the ways that I'm not good enough I'm not holy enough I don't choose Jesus the way I should choose Jesus and we get discouraged as opposed to this as opposed to saying okay Lord here it is another Sunday and here I am at the end of the day and all I can give you is just this little bit of time but here's what I give you that little bit of time you know come to another time where it's like okay God here I am going back to confession for the same thing over and over again gosh Lord I wish I was better okay but the truth is I'm not better yet and so what I am I give you it's get get that place where you're so frustrated because it's like man I'm trying to be patient with people trying to be giving to people like oh man my heart is so small my heart is so shallow my heart is so selfish God that's my heart that's what it looks like okay give him that heart that is selfish and that is shallow that's broken and it's not the way it should be see I think the reason why we sometimes get discouraged is because we don't realize that even God God can even use our failures God could even use those times like I neglected to pray I neglected to show up I neglected to love I neglected to be like you Jesus when we come back to him see that this is the thing if I make Christianity sound easy if I make following after Jesus sound easy it is because of one thing and one thing only and that is I know that I can trust in the Lord I know that's it I know I can trust him now I don't trust myself this is really important I don't trust myself because I know my Brokenness I know that I I I'm just like there's this kind of a pseudo C.S Lewis quote I think he said something along the lines I always quoting but it's like a paraphrase of one of it one of his quotes where he basically says um Jesus I have nothing more than a mercenary heart like I know I have a mercenary heart because if sin offers like a momentary pleasure for me or or a kind of an affirmation for me like I can I could choose that but if Jesus offers me some consolation I could choose that if the moment offers me some some rest where I don't have to like do the noble thing I could choose that but if the noble thing seems good I could choose that like I can't trust my heart because I have a mercenary heart but I can trust Jesus's merciful heart that's the difference I recognize I have a mercenary heart but I know that Jesus has a merciful heart and because of that you and I don't need to ever be discouraged because I know my Brokenness I know that Jesus has asked me to asking me to do something that's impossible on my own but I also know his grace I also know his his goodness I also know that Jesus can take anything that you and I give him and make something incredible out of it he could even take our Brokenness our selfishness our shallowness he can even take our sin he can take our a repeated like foolishness he can take all of it and he can use it if we give it to him and that's the key so here we are we find ourselves wherever you are wherever you find yourself right now in this day in this moment you probably find yourself like me uh not good enough not strong enough not holy enough not not loving enough but we find ourselves with one choice and that choice is even though I'm not enough and I don't have enough and I don't do enough and I'm not good enough and I'm not holy enough will I let Jesus be enough or will I trust in myself and just be discouraged God can use your Brokenness and my Brokenness he can use your failure and my failure he can use our littleness and you can do something incredible with it he's calling you out onto the water he's calling me out onto the water and it is not difficult it is impossible and that's why we just rely on his grace and we trust in his Mercy and we walk in his love there's no need to ever be discouraged because I have a mercenary heart but my Lord and God Jesus Christ has a merciful heart anyways that's what I got today problem is here since presents my name is father Mike God bless [Music]

Channel: Ascension Presents

Views: 68,672

Keywords: Fr. Mike, Fr. Mike Schmitz, Ascension Presents, Ascension, Ascension Youtube, Ascension Press, Father Mike Schmitz, Fr. Mike advice, Father Mike advice, fr. mike schmidt, God's love, God loves you, The love of God, the problem of pain, suffering in the world, evil world, evil in the world, Fr. Mike videos, problem of evil, problem of pain, why does god allow suffering, why God allows evil, why did god let this happen, Is it good that I exist?, It Is Good that You Exist

Id: -_AtNT5kcA0

Length: 9min 38sec (578 seconds)

Published: Wed May 24 2023