St Francis of Paola: What God is Waiting For

 Today we read about St Francis of Paola in the book In Caelo et in Terra. He was a miracle worker!

His parents asked God to give them a child, and asked for the intercession of St Francis of Assisi. When their child was born, they named him Francis in gratitude. He learned to read and write and how to live from the local Franciscans. And then he went on to form a new order, called the Minims, because he wanted them to be considered least of all.

He performed many miracles in his lifetime, including bringing people back from death and healing people of terrible diseases. The King of France requested that he come and pray for him that he might be healed. Francis walked to France barefoot. Then instead of praying for the king to be healed, he taught him to accept his death with grace and faith.

Because death comes for all of us, right? Even Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead, eventually died again. This might make you wonder why God doesn't heal everyone. Well, He does, in a way.

But it brings up something I learned today. See, I've often made fun of the song "Love Me Like You Do" by Ellie Goulding (listen to it here) because she says, "I'll let you set the pace because I'm not thinking straight" but then just a few lines later she loudly sings, "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??" This struck me as amusing because if she was letting him set the pace, why was she getting so impatient with him going slow?

But then tonight it hit me. This is how we treat God. We tell Him we trust Him. We "let Him set the pace" of our lives. We KNOW that He is wiser than we are and that His timing is perfect.

But.

When we wait for years for the child we've been wanting to have... when it's been decades and we're still not married... when we've been trying for that job for months now... we're tempted to yell with Ellie Goulding: "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???"

The song is a great prayer when we sing it to God. It reminds us that He really DOES have things under control, and He's not slow in keeping His promises. Just like Francis and the king of France. It was not time for the king to be healed, it was time for him to go home. God's timing is perfect.

God, thanks for giving us the great example of St Francis of Paola. St Francis, pray for us.

PS you can read more about St Francis of Paola here.