Have you
ever thought that everything that touches you touches Me as well? For that
which touches you touches the apple of My eye.
You are
dear in my eyes, precious, and I have loved you; therefore it is a particular
pleasure for Me to educate you.
When
temptations arise against you, and the enemy comes like a river, I want you to
know—This was from Me.
Your
weakness needs My strength, and your safety comes from giving Me the
opportunity to fight for you. If you find yourself in difficult circumstances,
among people who do not understand you, who do not take what you like into
consideration, who alienate you—This was from Me.
I am God,
Who arranges circumstances. It was no accident that you find yourself in the
place where you are; this is the place I have appointed for you. Did you not
ask that I teach you humility? Well, then, look: I have placed you in precisely
that place, in that school, where this lesson is learned. Your surroundings and
those who live with you are only fulfilling My will. If you find yourself in
financial difficulty, if you find it hard to make ends meet—This was from Me.
For I have
your material means at my disposal. I want you to call unto me, for you to be
dependent upon Me. My reserves are inexhaustible. I want you to be confirmed in
fidelity to Me and to My promises. May it not be said to you in your need: “You
did not believe in the Lord your God.”
Are you
in a night of suffering? Are you separated from your loved ones and those close
to your heart? This was from Me.
I am the
Man of suffering, Who has tasted affliction. I have allowed this so that you
would turn to Me, so that in Me you would find eternal comfort. If you have
been let down by your friend, to someone to whom you opened your heart—This was
from Me.
I allowed
this disappointment to touch you so that you would know that your best friend
is the Lord. I want you to bring everything to Me and to speak to Me.
Has
someone slandered you? Give this to me, and bring your soul closer to Me, your
Refuge, to hide from the “contradiction of the nations.” I shall bring forth
your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday. If your
plans have been destroyed, if you are downtrodden in soul and tired—This was
from Me.
You made
plans, and brought them to Me, so that I would bless them. But I want you to
leave Me in charge of the circumstances of your life, and then responsibility
for everything will be Mine, for this is too difficult for you; by yourself you
can not manage them, for you are only an instrument, and not the actor. If
unanticipated problems of life have visited you, and if despondency has seized
your heart, then know—This was from Me.
For I
want your heart and your soul to be always aflame before My eyes; to conquer
faint-heartedness of the soul in My name. If you do not hear from your dear
ones and friends for a long time, and in your faint-heartedness fall into
despondency and grumbling, know—This was from Me.
By this
anguish in your spirit, I test the strength of your faith in the surety of My
promise and the strength of your boldness in prayer for these dear ones of
yours. Was it not you who entrusted them to the Protection of My All-Pure
Mother? Was it not you who once entrusted their care to My providential love?
If serious illness, either temporary or incurable, has visited you, and has
confined to your bed, then know—This was from Me.
For I want
you to know Me even more deeply in you bodily infirmities, so that you would
not grumble over this trial sent to you, that you would not try to penetrate My
plans through different means for the salvation of people’s souls, but that you
would uncomplainingly and submissively bow you neck under My goodness towards
you. If you have dreamed of performing some special deed for Me, and instead
haven fallen onto a bed of sickness and weakness—This was from Me.
Then you
would have been immersed in your activities, and I would not have been able to
attract your thoughts to Me, for I want to teach you My deepest thoughts and
lessons, so that you would be in My service. I want to teach you to recognize
that you are nothing. Some of My best co-workers are those who have been cut
off from vital activity, that they would learn to wield the weapon of unceasing
prayer.
Have you
unexpectedly been called to occupy a difficult and responsible position? Go,
place it on Me. I entrust these difficulties to you so that the Lord God would
bless you for this in all your deeds, on all your paths, in everything that
will done by your hands. On this day I put into your hands a vessel of holy
oil. Use it generously, My children! Every difficulty that arises, every word
that insults you, every obstacle to your work that could elicit in you a
feeling of annoyance, every revelation of your weakness and inability, shall be
anointed with this oil.
Remember
that every obstacle is a Divine instruction. Every sting will be dulled when
you learn to see Me in everything that touches you. Therefore place the word I
have declared to you today in your heart: This was from Me. For this is not an
empty matter for you—this is your life.
By Metropolitan Manuel Lemeshevsky
Source: http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/saint-seraphim-of-viritsa-this-was-from-me.aspx
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