whose side are you on anyway

1 Samuel 4:1-11; Ps 44 Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy; Mark 1:40-45

Have you ever been around people who think they are right all the time? Not only do they think they are right, they know it. Even when they wrong, they claim to be right.


Hophni and Phinehas, the sons of ELi, strike me as people who thought they were right all the time. However, they didn't bother to check with God first. In today's first reading they assumed by taking the ark into battle, God would be on their side and thus they presumed they would prevail. They were wrong.


Like Hophni and Phinehas, we too assume many things.

How often do we think that God will be on our side even though we all share a common birth?

Abraham Lincoln recognized this tendency and once remarked, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.”


How often do we think God is on our side before we ever run it by God first; I don't mean simply praying about it and getting that feeling of conviction but truly discerning God's will by checking with those God has placed in authority to govern, teach, and sanctify, like the church.

It is important to discern clearly and to remember we don't always have the inside scoop when it comes to God; patience is necessary; prayer is necessary; asking others is necessary. In the words of St. Teresa, "how can we discern the spirit if we ourselves are not spiritual."

IT takes a little commitment on our part to be humble enough to realize we may not be right and thus we find the opening to God.