Throughout the month of July, the conversations we were able to have with God seemed to center around one beautiful invitation: come back to Me.
He spoke to sinners, to the desperate, to those who suffer, and even to those who strive for perfection. There was no exception to who was being called. No matter who you are, where you’ve been, or how far you feel you’ve wandered, you are always being invited back to Him.
“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the good, but to invite sinners.” - Luke 5: 31-32
The readings from the first week of July highlighted the mercy and unfathomable love that the Lord has for us. He knows our weaknesses. He understands our misery. He knows exactly where we hurt, and yet He still invites us to come to Him. He wants us to draw from the source of Life everything that we need.
We see this beautifully in Luke 8:43–48, when a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years reaches out and touches the fringe of Jesus' cloak. Immediately, her suffering stops.
Think about that for a moment. She didn't need an elaborate speech. She didn't have to prove herself. She simply reached for Him in faith. And Jesus tells her: “My daughter, your faith has healed you.”
If someone can reach for Christ while barely holding on and still encounter His mercy, imagine what He can do when we choose to fully surrender ourselves to His love. This brings me to another verse:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” — Proverbs 3:5.
You’ve probably heard this verse countless times, but I think sometimes the simplest words are the ones we need to hear again. Trust Him. Let God's presence permeate every part of your life—even your thoughts. One of the things I personally like to do each morning, after thanking God for another day, is to ask Him to quiet the thoughts and feelings within me that aren't from Him. In doing so, I can make room to surrender myself more completely to Him. And you know what? Life has been beautiful ever since.
But trusting God isn't always easy. One of the conversations that brought me the most pain was the realization of how often I had allowed distrust to take over my relationship with Him. I began reflecting on all the times I didn't trust God to provide, to act, or to accomplish His will because of my own impatience and pride. And pride doesn't always look loud or obvious. Sometimes pride is simply believing, “I can do this myself.” Sometimes it's thinking that our way, our timing, or our understanding must be better than God's. And when we try to carry everything ourselves, we can end up creating a burden that God never asked us to carry in the first place. But even then, He comes looking for us. Even when we are the ones who dug ourselves into the hole, God still finds a way to lead us back out, which brings me to one of Jesus' most beautiful parables: the Prodigal Son.
A young son takes his inheritance and leaves his father. He wastes what he has and eventually finds himself completely humbled by the life he chose. Eventually, he realizes that he doesn't have to remain there. So he goes home. And he's ashamed. He believes he has lost his right to be called his father's son. He is prepared to return as a servant. But his father doesn't see a servant coming home. He sees his son. And instead of rejecting him, he runs to him, embraces him, and celebrates his return. That is the heart of God's mercy. When we repent and return to Him, God doesn't greet us with, “I told you so.”
He rejoices. He doesn't keep a record of how many times we've fallen and decide we've used up our chances.
His mercy keeps calling us home. This is the thread I kept seeing throughout all of these readings: God wants us to trust Him. He reminds us that discouragement, anxiety, impatience, and distrust can become obstacles when we are trying to draw closer to Him. We are constantly tempted to believe that we have to figure everything out ourselves. But we don't. We are His children. And children are meant to depend on their Father.
So if July taught me anything, it is this:
Come back.
Come back when you're hurting.
Come back when you've sinned.
Come back when you're ashamed.
Come back when you don't understand.
Come back when your faith feels small.
Come back when you've tried doing everything on your own.
Just reach for Him.
Even if you're barely holding on.
He is still here.
- Ramos ✞