ВОЛЯ БОЖИЯ

“Thy will be done as it is in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 6:10). The fulfillment of the holy will of God - all-good, all-wise, all-blessed, eternal, all-powerful - leads rational creatures to all good and bliss, to light, to peace, to success in all virtue, to achieving the ultimate goal of salvation of the soul, and the fulfillment of our sinful, corrupt, blind will leads to all evil, confusion, darkness, illness, sorrow, misfortunes and all kinds of disasters and, ultimately, to the curse of God and eternal torment: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). To what extent do the drunkard, the adulterer, the thief, the atheist, the proud, the envious and others reach the point where they do their own will? It’s scary to imagine the picture of various human sins and their consequences! We all see this disgusting picture every day in one form or another. How diligently we must all fulfill the will of God! How earnestly to ask the Lord for this! (3). It is never so difficult to say from the heart: Thy will be done, Father, as in severe sorrow or serious illness, especially when there are lies from people, during obsessions or the machinations of the enemy. It is difficult to say from the heart: Thy will be done, even when we ourselves have become the culprits of some misfortune, for, we think, it is not God’s will, but our will, that has put us in such a position, although nothing happens without the will of God. In general, it is difficult to believe from the heart that the will of God is our suffering, when the heart knows both by faith and experience that God is our bliss, and therefore it is difficult to say in misfortune: Thy will be done. We think: is this really the will of God? Why does God torment us? Why are others calm and happy? What have we done? Will there be an end to our torment? etc. But when it is difficult for our corrupted nature to recognize the will of God over itself, without which nothing can happen, and to submit to it with humility, then let it submit to it, then let it bring to the Lord its most precious sacrifice - heartfelt devotion to Him not only in peace and happiness, but also in sorrow and misfortune; Let him subdue his vain, erroneous wisdom to the perfect wisdom of God, for as heaven is separated from earth, so are our thoughts separated from the thought of God (cf. Isa. 55:8, 9). May every man offer his Isaac, his Only Begotten, his beloved, his promised one (who is promised peace and bliss, and not sorrow) as a sacrifice to God and may he show his faith and his obedience, may he be worthy of the gifts of God that he has enjoyed or will enjoy (6). Do not for one moment fulfill your own will, but the will of God, which is love for everyone - and for enemies - and our holiness. Our will is manifold sin, self-love (not love of God), malice, hatred, pride, envy, greed, lust, gluttony, drunkenness, theft, love of money, fornication, wickedness, laziness, hard-heartedness and insensitivity to the suffering of our neighbor, gloating about his ill-being, rancor, grumbling, blasphemy, blasphemy (7). When your spirit becomes depressed in illness and begins to imagine death with horror, then calm and comfort your restless, trembling and sad heart with the following saying: You, Lord, with the depth of wisdom, humanely build everything and give what is useful to everyone - and believe that He will certainly arrange everything for our good: whether life, illness, misfortune, sorrow, or death, so that you cannot wish for anything better. Don’t say: it would be too early for me to die, I would like to live a little longer for the glory of God, for the benefit of my relatives and neighbors; I would like to see the light again and enjoy the blessings of the earth. Be grateful to God for the fact that you have previously enjoyed His benefits, His mercies, His bounties. Now submit to His will, His calling, but at the same time do not despair of the continuation of your life here (7). When you want to be and are trying your best to be painless and healthy, but meanwhile you remain sick, say: Thy will be done; when you undertake something, and the enterprise fails, say: Thy will be done; when you do good to others, and they pay you evil, say: Thy will be done, or when, for example, you want to sleep, but you have insomnia, say: Thy will be done; do not get irritated at all when something is done not according to your will, and learn to submit to the will of the Heavenly Father in everything. You would like there to be no temptations with you, but meanwhile the enemy torments you with them every day: he inflames you, oppresses you in every possible way - do not be irritated, but say: Thy will be done (7). Whoever follows Christ will inherit eternal heavenly bliss and will be honored to see the ineffable beauty of God, which all the Angels of God cannot get enough of. It is not easy for a carnal, worldly person to deny himself; he will not dare to do this, but rather, he will decide to follow his flesh and blood, to drink the cup of earthly pleasure to the end. The Lord warns: if you want to be saved, if you want to be blissful in heaven with all the saints, do not live according to your own will and according to the inspiration of your passions, renounce your sinful and unstable will and in everything submit to the will of God, always holy and good. Then you completely unite yourself to Christ, because it is impossible for Christ, the source of goodness, to unite with an evil, unkind, unrighteous, partial person; What kind of communication does light have with darkness, does Christ have with Satan (cf. 2 Cor. 6:14, 15)? None (9). One must do the will of God with all zeal and desire it, strive for it with all ardor; for in fulfilling it is our life, peace, joy, glory, bliss, strength. Thy will be done, the Lord taught us to pray! And how He fulfilled it and fulfilled it perfectly! “Here I come... to do Your will, O my God,” He says in the words of Scripture (Ps. 39:8, 9). And how He taught us to do exactly the will of God! “For whoever does the will of God is My brother, and sister, and mother” (Mark 3:35). And how little care and effort we have to do the will of God! Everyone creates his own stupid, corrupt, depraved, blind, destructive will. The proud man has his, the evil man has his, the drunkard has his, the covetous has his, the envious has his, the fornicator has his. And the will of God is our life, our eternal bliss, our holiness. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you should abstain from sexual immorality” (1 Thess. 4:3) (9). Learn to completely surrender to the will of God - in happiness and misfortune, as well as after sin, when sorrow and tightness of the heart, according to the law of God's truth, make your life sad and difficult, so that you hate sin and love goodness with all your heart, and when you flow rightly and do not give in to sin - the blessing of the Lord appears on your head and in your heart. Be like a child who sincerely loves his parents, who, whether right or wrong in front of them, always surrenders to their will, knowing for sure that he will always be dealt with in a fatherly manner, with love (10). You might be interested in: