We all know the story…a man runs up to Jesus and asks what he must do to be saved. Jesus tells him that he must give up all he has, and follow Jesus. The man walks away sad, “for he had great possessions.”

Now the Gospel doesn’t tell us what the man did next. Was he sad because he could not do what Jesus asked or because he knew he would miss all those riches? There’s certainly no reason to think that he didn’t do what he was told.

Sometimes we assume that the reason Jesus told the man to do this was to teach us all a lesson about worldliness. But that kind of thinking takes the charitable element out of it. Remember- the man wasn’t satisfied with Jesus’ first answer. He kept pressing.

Jesus’s final answer wasn’t a case of “OK, Mr. Holier Than Thou…let’s see if you can handle this.” It was an act of charity. The Gospel points out that Jesus loved him, and then told him where he was lacking. In other words, Jesus knew that the man was genuinely interested in making himself better. And Jesus knew that there was only one way to do it. So Jesus told him to give everything to the poor and follow Him.

Every now and then, I think I can relate to the man. Not in wealth. I never had ‘great possessions’ and I probably never will. But I think we can all relate to the man’s disappointment in Jesus’ answer. How many times have we prayed, and gotten an answer we weren’t expecting…one that might even frighten us.

But during those times, we should always remember that the answers are out of love. God truly desires the highest possible good for all of us. Many times (most of the time), the highest good is difficult. It’ll make us sad, afraid, or even angry. But we should always take time to reflect on those distasteful answers…and to find out what God really wants for us.

Try to figure out what good could possibly come from our pain. The rich man would be freed from his worldliness. Is there something that’s keeping us from our own salvation?

What about the pain itself? Is there a special intention that you could offer it up for? We don’t always see the big picture, and God does. Perhaps there’s a loved one who is on the brink of despair. We can make our suffering more useful by allowing God to apply our offerings to His own purpose. Give it to God and let Him sort it out. The same way we allow the government to distribute our tax dollars.

In the end, the most important lesson in that Gospel story is that God will demand what we need…not what He needs. If we keep that in mind, we’ll be less likely to question God’s will.