Life is a Gift In the Hands of the Creator
Over the years, I have come to understand a truth that does not diminish me but rather places me before life with greater humility: I am limited. My intelligence can barely grasp a small part of all that exists; my strength has its boundaries, my certainties can be mistaken, and my plans do not always follow the path I imagined. We can choose, work, build, and dream, but we are not the absolute masters of our journey, nor do we know what awaits us ahead.
Recognizing our smallness before God does not mean giving up our will or our efforts. On the contrary, it calls us to make better use of the gifts we have received and to take responsibility for our lives. It also teaches us to say, from the deepest part of our soul: Lord, I am limited; whatever You make of me will always be better than anything I, in my human condition, could imagine.
We need only contemplate creation to understand the distance between our intelligence and the wisdom of the Creator. The vastness of the sky, the order of the stars, the silent mountain, the river that finds its course, the seed that holds the mystery of becoming a tree, and the light that conquers darkness each morning are all part of a harmony that existed before us and surpasses us. Within that universe, there we are—small before its immensity yet gifted with the wonder of being able to think, love, remember, forgive, create, and lift our spirits toward the One who gave us life.
This certainty changes the way we look at our existence. Nothing truly essential began with us. We did not choose to come into the world, nor did we design our intelligence, nor did we command our hearts to beat. We received life and, with it, talents, opportunities, relationships, and possibilities. Our responsibility is to make them fruitful and to understand that every gift reaches its true greatness when it is also placed at the service of others.
I have also learned that wisdom does not consist solely in accumulating knowledge, but in reaching a deeper understanding of life. Knowing a great deal does not guarantee that we will live well. True wisdom begins when we are able to acknowledge a mistake, overcome pride, listen before judging, forgive without keeping score, and give thanks even for those things whose meaning takes us years to understand. To grow spiritually is to allow our experiences to transform our inner selves and bring us ever closer to God.
When I look back over the path I have traveled, I find joys, accomplishments, and relationships that have enriched my life, but also mistakes, losses, and moments whose meaning I could only understand later. Some doors I longed to walk through remained closed; others opened when I least expected them. With time, I came to understand that not everything we ask for is good for us, nor does everything we initially consider adverse ultimately become a misfortune. There are plans that only the passing of years allow us to understand, and answers from God that come in ways different from what we expected.
That is why my way of praying has also changed. I no longer want to ask only for my desires to be fulfilled. I prefer to ask for wisdom to discern, humility to accept, strength to continue, and clarity to recognize what God expects of me. Faith does not mean remaining still and waiting for everything to happen; it requires us to work, decide, persevere, and take responsibility for our lives, but to do so with the certainty that there is a wisdom greater than our own.
Perhaps one of the spirit’s most difficult achievements is learning to trust. Trusting when we understand is easy; doing so when the path becomes uncertain requires a deeper faith. It is then that we must accept that our vision reaches only as far as the next stretch of the road, while the Creator sees what we still cannot.
Today, I want to continue living with enthusiasm, learning, building, loving, and dreaming for as long as I am granted the gift of life. I want to do so with an ever-clearer awareness that everything that truly sustains me comes from God: life, the intelligence with which I try to understand it, the ability to love, the opportunity to change, and that inner restlessness that moves me to grow and seek a higher existence.
Thus, my prayer can be summed up in a few words:
I am limited, Lord. You know who I am, what I can become, and what I still need to transform. Make of me what You believe is best. Give me wisdom to understand, humility to accept, strength to persevere, and a heart capable of recognizing Your presence in all that surrounds me.
In the end, perhaps the true greatness of the human being does not lie in feeling like the master of one’s destiny, but in understanding that life is a gift and responding to it with gratitude. Placing ourselves in the hands of the Creator does not mean giving up our freedom; it means exercising it with the serenity of knowing that while we can barely see the next step, He knows the entire journey.
Ricardo Gutiérrez is an economist and entrepreneur with extensive experience in various sectors. His life has been marked by professional commitment, faith, and family. Fifty years ago, he married Elsy Dangond, with whom he has built a strong family, raising three children and seven grandchildren. Educated by the Jesuits in Colombia, his education strengthened his principles and trust in God. His faith is his daily guide, inspired by a wise Spanish priest and symbolized by the crucifix before which he prays each day. For him, Jesus Christ is the true architect of his achievements.
