Слово 37. О том, по какой причине Бог попускает искушения на любящих Его

As a result of the love that the saints showed for God by suffering for His name, when He contains them in cramped conditions, but does not depart from those whom He loves, the heart of the saints acquires the boldness to look at God with an uncovered face and ask Him with hope. Great is the power of bold prayer. Therefore, God allows His saints to be tempted by all sorrow - and, on the other hand, to receive through experience proof of His help and how much God provides for them - because as a result of temptation they acquire wisdom; allows (this) so that, while remaining ignorant, they would not be deprived of training in both, but from experience they would acquire knowledge of everything and would not suffer ridicule from demons, because if he had tempted them in one good thing, then they would have lacked training in the other part, and they would have been blind in battles. And if we say that God teaches them without their own knowledge of it, then this already means to say that God wants to make them like oxen and donkeys, having no freedom in anything, and that a person, if he is not first tempted by the test of evil, has no concept of good, so that when he encounters good, with knowledge and freely use it as his property. How pleasant knowledge is, borrowed directly from experience and from exercise, and what strength it gives to someone who has acquired it in himself through long-term experience, this is recognized by those who have experienced the assistance of knowledge, as well as the weakness of nature and the help of God's power, and are convinced of this. For only then will they know when God, having first withheld His power from assisting them, brings them into consciousness of the weakness of nature, the cruelty of temptations, the cunning of the enemy and the one with whom they are fighting, what kind of nature they are endowed with and how they were protected by God's power, how many journeys they have made, how much God's power has elevated them and how much they are weak in the fight against any passion if this passion is removed from them strength, so that from all this they acquire humility, draw closer to God, begin to expect His help and remain in prayer. And where would they have accepted all this if they had not gained experience about many bad things, having fallen into this bad thing by God’s permission, as the Apostle says: “Because of the many revelations, let me not be arrogant, since I have become a vile of the flesh, an angel of Satan” (2 Cor. 12:7)? But in temptations, repeatedly experiencing God's help, a person acquires firm faith; from here he becomes fearless and gains boldness in temptations from the very exercise that he had. Temptation is useful for every person. For, if the temptation was useful to Paul, then “let every mouth be stopped, and the whole world be guilty of God” (Rom. 3:19). Ascetics are tempted to add them to their wealth; relaxed - to protect themselves from harm; immersed in sleep - to prepare them for awakening; far away - to bring them closer to God; theirs to God - so that they may rejoice with boldness. Every untaught son receives wealth from his father's house to no avail. That is why God first tempts and torments, and then shows the gift. Glory to the Lord, Who through bitter medicine brings us to the opportunity to enjoy health! There is no person who does not grieve during training; and there is no person who would not find the time bitter when he drinks the poison of temptation. Without them it is impossible to acquire a strong will 217. But we are not able to endure temptations. For how can a clay vessel stop the flow of water if Divine Fire does not strengthen it? If, humbly asking with unceasing desire, we submit to God with patience, then we will receive everything in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. Here, as below, the word “bad” should mean “temptations, sorrows.” A courageous dispensation of the soul. You might be interested in: