Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) answers:
St. speaks about this. Apostle Paul: No temptation has overtaken you but such as is human; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but when you are tempted, He will also give you the way of escape, so that you may be able to bear it.
(1 Cor. 10:13).
The above words express an idea that explains why some people fall under the burden of temptation. Most people incur heavy temptations through sins (fornication, proud and impudent arrogance, trampling on the Divine commandments). For many, these temptations turn out to be disastrous. The apostle says to the Corinthians: while you struggled with the trials sent by God, you were not in danger of falling into sin and falling away from the faith, because God does not allow us temptations beyond our strength.
But when you yourself bring temptations upon yourself by your behavior, then you cannot be sure of victory over them.
The Holy Apostle James calls on you to endure temptations graciously: the testing of your faith produces patience; But let patience have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing
(James 1:3-4).
Sometimes it seems to a person that the trials exceed his strength. This can be overcome by complete trust in God and trust in His Divine mercy. One ancient Byzantine manuscript contains the comforting admonition of a holy elder: “Someone told me that one man always prayed to God so that He would not leave him on his earthly path, and, as the Lord once descended with His disciples on their way to Emmaus (see. : Lk 24:13-32), so that he would also walk with him along the path of his life. And at the end of his life he had a vision: he saw that he was walking along the sandy shore of the ocean (of course, mean the ocean of eternity, along the shore of which the path of mortals passes). And, looking back, he saw the prints of his feet on the soft sand, going far back: this was the traveled path of his life. And next to the prints of his feet were the prints of a couple more feet; and he realized that it was the Lord who had descended with him in life, just as he had prayed to Him. But in some places along the path he saw the prints of only one pair of feet, which cut deeply into the sand, as if indicating the severity of the path at that time. And this man remembered that it was then when there were particularly difficult moments in his life and when life seemed unbearably difficult and painful. And this man said to the Lord: you see, Lord, in difficult times of my life you did not walk with me; You see that the prints of only one pair of feet in those days indicate that then I walked alone in life, and You see from the fact that the footprints cut deep into the ground that it was very difficult for me to walk then. But the Lord answered him: My son, you are mistaken. Indeed, you see the prints of only one pair of feet in those times of your life that you remember as the most difficult. But these are not the prints of your feet, but of Mine. Because in the difficult times of your life, I took you in My arms and carried you. So, My son, these are not the prints of your feet, but of Mine” ( Reflections of a Humble Heart
).
November 6, 2007
Orthodox Life
So that we can finally believe in Him.
The unit for measuring faith has not yet been invented, but its value determines the degree and quality of a person’s closeness to God. There are fewer convinced atheists than we think. When asked about recognizing the existence of God, most of your personal respondents will answer in the affirmative, even if they are not Christians or generally actively practicing representatives of any religion. It’s a completely different matter what God will be like in their minds and how active they are in knowing Him, which determines the clarity and depth of faith.
It is not difficult to agree that God exists. It is more difficult to accept His laws at the level of one’s own beliefs. To do this, you need to analyze Christian teaching, regularly analyze what the Savior said, conduct an internal dialogue with God on this matter, and then effectively accept it. The Lord says that we can move mountains if we have faith in Him even the size of a mustard seed. But we don't move them. Moreover, cowardice becomes the second “I”; once we are faced with a more serious problem, in which our faith is always tested.
So faith is based on trust. We believe in the existence of God as a Higher Power, we believe in the Holy Scriptures, in which God is revealed to us. In this case, we must trust God completely, listening carefully to His voice sounding between the lines of the book of the history of our lives. After all, without the will of the Lord not even a hair will fall from our head, which means we are safe as long as we trust God and strive to take actions in accordance with His will. If this does not happen, that is, we do not make any effort to fulfill the commandments, we spend a small part of time on reflection, introspection and correction of life towards the Kingdom of Heaven, it is obvious that confidence in God in our heart will waver and fade away.
Therefore, a person often faces trials - situations that shock him, through which his internal rebirth occurs. Sometimes it is difficult for us only by the force of self-conviction to maintain a high level of spiritual life. And then, in order to maintain the flame of faith in our heart, the Lord sends us a stressful event or even a chain of events. God awakens us from spiritual slumber, calls us to realize the temporary nature of earthly life, the dilapidation of material values, and finally detach ourselves from the world, a colossus with feet of clay. This is what happened to the apostles when Christ tamed the storm.
As the Gospel says, the miracle of feeding thousands of people did not strengthen the Savior’s disciples in the faith. It seems that for them this incident was some kind of wonder, although unusual, but not so deeply experienced. The stony hearts (Mark 6:52) of the apostles did not awaken from their slumber until they experienced horror in the face of possible death. What were they thinking about there in the boat during the storm? Were you paralyzed by fear? Did any of them pray? Unknown. But soon the Savior (whom they at first mistook for a ghost) approached them from the shore along the water, stopped the storm and Himself got into the boat. Only on the edge of imminent death did Christ manage to reach the hearts of the apostles.
People sometimes ask why there is so much evil, sorrow and suffering in the world. The answer is simple: it all comes from the fact that people decisively violate the harmony of the world. God wishes every person the happiness of eternal life, but man, like a madman, does not want to hear good admonitions through the words of sermons heard from the Internet, from the pages of books, from the lips of Christians. The human soul is dearer to God than the whole world, and that is why sometimes He knocks on our hearts a little louder, sending us certain trials.
There are countless cases when religiously indifferent people came to God through illness and difficult situations. Gradually, the Lord helped them overcome their health problems (sometimes in a way inexplicable to modern medicine), sent them prosperity and family happiness, children and work, money and property. In the end, a completely different person emerged from the epic of trials. His faith at the beginning of the sorrowful journey and after the situation is resolved are two different worlds. The atheist turned into a Christian, the lukewarm - into a hot one, the righteous - into a saint, grateful for the suffering that he had to overcome and find the most precious treasure in the world - God.
Vladimir Basenkov
Trials give us experience
The Lord sent us to this earth so that we could be tested. He gave us free will, thanks to which we can make our own decisions. We are able to distinguish good from evil and make a choice in favor of one or the other. Thanks to this opportunity, a person can become more and more like the Lord by following His commandments and instructions.
The experiences we gain on this earth will remain with us forever. When faced with challenges, we can always learn important lessons that will definitely be useful in the future. If you think about what you have had to face up to this point, you will realize that without these difficulties you would be a completely different person. The Lord knows what lies ahead for us. He loves his children and will not send them trials that they do not have the strength to cope with.
God promises that in every trial He will provide a way out.
The word “relief” in the Greek translation has a definite article, that is, a specific way out and deliverance.
Carry - safely carried away.
God is releasing more of His power to carry you away from danger.
(1 Cor 10:16-17) Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a communion of the Blood of Christ? Is not the bread that we break a communion of the Body of Christ? There is one bread, and we, many, are one body; for we all partake of one bread.
This text deals with the path of deliverance to get out of your trial.
But first it is said:
(1 Cor 10:14-15) Therefore, my beloved, flee idolatry. I tell you
as reasonable; Judge for yourself what I say.
(1 Cor 10:7) Nor be ye idolaters, as some of them were, of whom it is written: The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.
This refers to the events when the golden calf was made.
(Exodus 32:6) The next day they rose up early, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings: and the people sat down to eat and drink, and afterward rose up to play.
Play - orgies (wild party).
The fact is that they ate and drank before an alien god, who is actually an idol. “Eat and drink” - here we mean communion (communion) with the idol.
(1 Cor 10:20-21) When the pagans make sacrifices, they offer to demons, not to God. But I don't want you to be in communication with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; You cannot be participants in the table of the Lord and in the table of demons.
God has arranged everything in harmony, so not a single verse should be taken out of context. Paul goes on to make a distinction between partaking of the Body of Christ and partaking of idols.
(1 Cor 10:16) Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a partaking of the Blood of Christ? Is not the bread that we break a communion of the Body of Christ?
Trials teach us important principles
As stated earlier, trials give us precious experience that we cannot gain in any other way. How we cope with life's difficulties shows who we are, what principles we adhere to, what sources we turn to in search of advice, solutions or support.
I would especially like to note that in times of trial we can be patient and obedient as never before. Everything in our lives happens for a reason. We may not now understand why the Lord has placed us in such difficult circumstances, but He has a special plan for each of us. It is very important for us to trust God, it is important to show that we are ready to follow His will. Mormon apostle Robert D. Hales said, “Hope and trust in the Lord require faith, patience, humility, submission, long-suffering, commandment-keeping, and endurance to the end.”
How to detect the secret and obvious presence of dark forces. Pestov. NOT.
Not a single Christian avoids encounters with dark power in life. “In the world, Satan fights with Christ, and the battlefield is the hearts of people,” writes Dostoevsky.
And here it is important for us to detect his presence, most often secret, and sometimes completely obvious. This is how Fr. writes about it. John S:
“When we begin to sincerely work for the Lord and touch the living demons of our passions nesting in us, then they arm themselves against us with all their hellish malice, all their insurances, strong addictions to earthly goods, until we drive them out of ourselves with fervent prayer or the Holy Communion. Tain.
Thus, the possessed are at peace until they are brought to the shrine, and when they are brought to the shrine, where will the extraordinary strength come from, aversion from the shrine, blasphemy, spitting on the shrine, a piercing cry.
Here is an explanation for the bewilderment why demoniacs, or so-called cliques, scream in church during mass, or when they are brought to the holy relics: this is because demons encounter a good force, hateful to them and stronger than them, which scorches, oppresses, and amazes them, drives them out of their beloved home.”
Should we fear Satan and his army? They are really strong and scary.
As Fr. writes. Alexander Elchaninov:
“The more you live, the more you see how powerful Satan is.”
But a Christian should not be afraid of them. From the moment of Christ’s resurrection, His victorious words have been heard: “I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) and “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). And the power of the Lord, and the power of His cross, and the grace of the Sacraments, and the virtue of humility are such that they save from Satan all who with faith resort to God for help.
Devotees of piety and saints give us countless examples of fearlessness in relation to dark power.
Here is an example from the life of an ascetic of piety, the spiritual daughter of St. Seraphim Elena Vasilievna Manturova.
Before entering the Diveyevo monastery (community), Elena Vasilievna lived with her brother Mikhail Vasilyevich and his wife. One day a terrible thunderstorm broke out. The whole family gathered in Elena Vasilyevna’s room, where she calmly prayed in the corner in front of the icon. Suddenly, during one of the strong blows, in the corner under the icon case where the ascetic stood, a completely unnatural cry was heard, like a cat.
This cry horrified everyone, and everyone rushed to Elena Vasilievna. “Don’t be afraid, brother, don’t be afraid, sister,” she said calmly. “After all, this is the devil.” She made the sign of the cross in the place where the cry was, and added: “He’s not there, can he really do anything?” There was silence and everyone calmed down.
It should be noted that the Lord allows the devil to scare or attack visibly (with his own eyes) only on Christians who have already grown and become stronger spiritually, for their perfection in the spiritual struggle.
The devil is not allowed to reveal himself in a visible way to all those who are new to spiritual life. But devotees of piety and saints often have to endure it.
Here is the case with the same Elena Vasilievna.
One night she was reading the Psalter in the lower church of Diveyevo. Suddenly, someone ran up the stairs from the upper porch, burst into the church where she was praying, and crashed with such a noise and crash that the sleeping sisters jumped up next to her.
Another time, there in the church, when she, having heard a knock on the door, went to unlock it, she saw someone standing in front of her in a shroud, etc.
Having learned about these attacks, Rev. Seraphim forbade Elena Vasilievna to remain alone in the church.
As Elder Adrian (of the Southern Desert), who suffered a lot from the attacks of the dark force, said: “What kind of insurances, troubles, demonic networks, unbearable monsters fill the air. So, if a person saw this, he could barely survive. But all this is hidden from us by the good Providence of the Lord, by His mercy.”
He also said:
“These temptations and snares must inevitably touch every person. And then it becomes painful and difficult for a person.”
As the holy fathers tell us, there are three stages in the contact of dark force with a person.
The first stage is the awakening in the soul of a person of certain passions, a tendency to sin and the attack of various addictions. If the dark force does not have time in this and the person successfully fights against all these attacks, then the dark force begins to attack the person through the people around him, arousing in them discontent, enmity and hatred towards the ascetic of piety. Arms against him and his loved ones, who begin to pester him with the urge to deviate from the righteous path.
If the dark force is not successful in this, or the ascetic lives in solitude, then the dark force is allowed to openly appear to the ascetic and intimidate him with various insurances.
At the same time, for stronger-spirited ascetics, a physical attack on them by dark forces is also permitted. So, for example, St. Petersburg was beaten by demons. Anthony the Great.
In all this struggle, the strength of the spirit of the saints and ascetics is tempered and victorious crowns are prepared for them.
It should be mentioned that those of the holy fathers and ascetics who were given close contact with the dark force in confrontation with it (for example, St. Anthony the Great) did not like to talk and open much about it, considering it unnecessary or perhaps dangerous .
Another example is the elder Fr. Alexy M., who never spoke to his spiritual children about the evil one and demons. It was as if they did not exist for him, and he did not want to know them.
His prayer and illumination by the Holy Spirit drove away all the dark power from him and his close spiritual children, and therefore he did not seem to know it and did not meet it.
And it is unlikely that a Christian needs to get acquainted in detail with Satan, his kingdom, his properties and manifestations.
One might think that here we should limit ourselves to what the Holy Scriptures and the works of St. reveal about this. Fathers of the Church.
And although a Christian needs to know about all types of influence of dark forces on his soul, there is no need to look for and read that literature that directly reveals the terrifying image of man’s terrible enemy and the abyss of horrors, sin, vice and ugliness that he implanted in humanity.
Why should the soul descend into darkness, when the salvation of the soul lies in joining the light? And is it useful to breathe the poisonous fumes that come from this darkness? And if these vapors penetrate us, then shouldn’t we rather get away from them into clean air - the breath of the Holy Spirit?
We must remember that according to the law of imitation, everything that is generated by Satan is dangerous - all types of vice and sin, passions and addictions, lies and false teachings, mental ugliness and impurity. And the further you stand from them, the less they sink into your soul, the safer it is for your soul.
Of course, all newcomers to spiritual life, who have not yet become spiritually strong, must exercise caution in relation to dark forces. They should not take on spiritual feats beyond their strength and remember the following advice from one hieromonk experienced in spiritual warfare: “Do not tease the enemy. It’s better to let him notice you as little as possible. You won't be able to stand the fight against him. He doesn’t forgive not only a good deed, but also a prayer.”
Therefore, very few even among the shepherds decide to take on such tasks as driving out “through prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21) the dark power from those possessed by it (possessed). And those of them who did this successfully usually suffered persecution; The people around them took up arms against them, they were expelled, transferred from place to place, etc.
However, the saints and zealous ascetics of piety were not and are not frightened by all the machinations of the enemy erected against them.
As mentioned above, by the permission of God, St. Anthony the Great was severely beaten by demons, which, however, did not weaken his exploits at all. The saints always won when there was a visible attack on them by dark forces.
Once Satan attacked St. Petersburg in the form of a lion. Savva the Sanctified (December 5/18). Rushing, he backed away, rushed again, and backed back again. Seeing that the beast was rushing and then retreating, the monk said to him: “If you have the power from God to eat me, then why are you moving back? If not, then why are you working in vain? For by the strength of my Christ I will overcome you, O lion.” And immediately the demon, appearing in animal form, disappeared.
And when a Christian has to meet in life - in reality or in a dream - with a dark force or its manifestation, one only needs to remember the invincible weapon in which the Christian is equipped. This invincible weapon is the cross of Christ, with which one must protect oneself in all manifestations of dark power, as well as a manifestation of Christian humility. Elder Silouan writes about the latter:
“The war (with the dark force) is persistent, but only for the proud, but it is easy for the humble, because they loved the Lord, and He gives them His strong weapon - the grace of the Holy Spirit, which our enemies fear, for it scorches them.”
However, we repeat, if a Christian does not need to be afraid of the visible attacks of the dark force, then he must always be aware of its constant, invisible to the physical eyes, influence on himself, have a clear idea about it and constantly fight against this influence.
As the archbishop writes: Arseny (Chudovskoy):
"St. Ascetics do not advise us to be afraid of the machinations of the enemy, which manifest themselves in the struggle from thoughts, etc., for demons can only threaten us, but are not able to take possession of our being if we protect ourselves with prayer, the sign of the cross and spiritual sobriety. Fear only weakens our heart, paralyzes everything with which we are strong against the enemy’s power.”
Being in a state of any passion, noticing an addiction to something in yourself, observing in your soul a state opposite to the fruits of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, etc.) (Gal. 5:22), i.e. ... aversion from anything good, hostility, coldness towards people, despondency, anxiety, depressing heaviness, etc., a Christian must clearly realize that his soul is to some extent controlled by a dark force.
As Rev. writes. Anthony the Great:
“Demons are not visible bodies, but we become bodies for them when our souls receive dark thoughts from them; for by accepting these thoughts, we accept the demons themselves and make them manifest in the body.”
In such cases, the Christian must immediately arm himself spiritually and begin to pray.
A Christian cannot defeat the evil one by his own strength - victory is achieved only by the power of Christ and His Cross. Therefore, the struggle will consist primarily in diligent prayer for intercession and participation in the Sacraments of confession and communion.
From the prayers in these cases the following is read: “May God rise again and His enemies be scattered” or the Creed.
In some cases (for example, when there are strong attacks of some passion), it may be necessary to join the prayer of fasting. At the same time, we must remember that the Lord most often allows the evil one to attack us either for showing pride, or to punish us for some sin. Therefore, the prayer for intercession must begin with repentance for those sins that our conscience tells us about.
In addition to the direct influence of dark force on a Christian, it can influence him through people who have surrendered to it.
The methods of this struggle on the part of Satan and the entire set of temptations represent such a multifaceted and large area that the analysis of this issue requires a special place, and is only partially touched upon in these essays.
Appendices to Chapter 11
The essence of the chief of the dark forces of Satan, or the devil, and his influence on humanity in general and on each person individually are illuminated to the necessary extent in the conversations of Archimandrite Boris Kholchev “On the Lord’s Prayer.” Below are abbreviated excerpts on this topic.
“The devil, or the evil one, is repeatedly spoken of in many places of Holy Scripture, starting from the first book of the Holy Bible - the Book of Genesis - and ending with the last book - the Apocalypse. It speaks of the devil as the greatest opponent of our salvation, as the one who creates the greatest obstacles on man’s path to God.
In the First Council Epistle of St. Peter, addressing Christians, says: “Be sober, be vigilant (the devil, like a lion, is looking for someone to devour).” A wonderful place in the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12).
Holy Scripture reveals to us that the devil was not the devil in the beginning. Having been created by God as one of the great angels close to God, he was endowed with great grace-filled gifts. But at the beginning of world history a terrible catastrophe occurred - this luminous angel fell, and the cause of this fall was pride. He admired his virtues and the gifts that God had endowed him with, and he had a crazy thought that he himself was the cause of these gifts.
He had the idea that he did not need God. This crazy thought destroyed him; he wanted to be equal to God. When he became proud, he turned from a luminous angel into a devil. His entire inner being changed: instead of love for God, blasphemy arose in him; Instead of the joy of communion with God, he had a desire to move away from God and exist separately from God.
He infected other angels with this madness, and some of the light angels became dark forces. This first crime was followed by a second crime. Among God's creations was man. Man was a beautiful creation of God. He was like an angel in his soul, he was close to God and was also endowed with diverse gifts. The devil, in his enmity towards God, decided to infect man with sin in order to desecrate God’s creation and remove him from God.
This was the second greatest crime of the devil. Of course, man's guilt was to some extent less than the devil's. The devil himself withdrew from God, and man withdrew from God by deception, carried away by the devil. When humanity moved away from God, the devil and dark forces acquired great influence both on the life of each person and on the life of humanity as a whole.
One great saint, St. Anthony the Great had an amazing vision, full of deep meaning. He saw the devil's snares that engulfed all of humanity. They seemed insurmountable to him. What kind of devil's networks are these?
When a person became infected with sin, the person’s soul seemed to open up to the influence of the devil, and the devil gained access to sow all kinds of evil into the person’s soul, and first of all, he got the opportunity to sow pride, sinful, passionate thoughts and aspirations into the person’s soul. The devil affects not only the human soul, but also the human body.
In the Gospel narrative there are stories about demoniacs, the so-called possessed. These are people whose enemy has influence and power not only over their souls, but also over their bodies. If a person is subordinate to the devil, if he fulfills his will in everything, if he commits sin and lawlessness, then when we meet such a person, he can infect us with his inner sinful content.
This person can be, as it were, an instrument of the devil, through which he traps us in his nets. This is how diverse, how terrible these devilish networks are, which seem to be spread over the whole world.
St. Anthony the Great, when he saw these nets, was horrified and exclaimed: “Who and how can escape these nets?” - And he heard the answer: “Only humility can escape the snares of the devil.”
In this answer, which was heard by St. Anthony the Great, is the revelation of the great secret of spiritual life. The devil turned from an angel into a devil through pride, therefore the most powerful weapon against him is humility.
If a person carries out the greatest work, the greatest fasting, the greatest feat of prayer, if a person is full of selflessness towards other people, but if there is no humility, he cannot defeat the devil, he will probably be a victim of the devil and will be defeated.
When we say the petition: “But deliver us from the evil one,” we pray to God, the Heavenly Father, to deliver us from these devil’s snares, so that we do not get entangled in these nets and become a victim of the devil. Therefore, let each of us try to overcome pride in our souls, carefully notice and study our sins and shortcomings, and stop disdaining and despising other people.”
And here is some more data on the characteristics of the dark forces of Archbishop John (Shakhovsky):
“Evil spirits brutally deal with their allies. Being vengeful and not being able to take revenge on their enemies - God's people, they always take revenge on their friends... This discovery of evil in the world is allowed so that a person is repelled from it. Those who do not believe in God do not believe in the most complete deceit, in the suicidality of evil.”
Some Christians are tempted by the existence of dark forces and wonder why God allowed the transformation of a bright angel into Satan, the infatuation of angels who became demons, and all the evil that then spilled out into the world.
Our tasks do not include philosophical justification or resolution of issues that are difficult to resolve by the weak human mind. He cannot understand everything given the incomprehensibility of the wisdom of God.
“My thoughts are not your thoughts,” says the Lord through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah (Is. 55:8). And even the wisest Apostle Paul himself answered one of the difficult questions: “Who are you, man, that you argue with God? Will the product say to the one who made it, “Why did you make me this way?” (Rom. 9:20).
The fastest way to approach God is through pure, untesting faith - through the simple shepherds who were the first to worship the Son of God in the Bethlehem cave. Much later the wise men came to Him, and only after a long, difficult journey.
The star showed them the way to the Lord, and the shepherds received direct revelation from the angels of God. Why should we choose the long and difficult path of the wise men, rather than follow the simple-hearted shepherds?
Let us give some answers from St. fathers to the questions posed.
The Holy Fathers, the most wise of men by the Holy Spirit of God, unanimously say that in all of God’s creation and in all the laws He established for both the physical and spiritual world, “all good is green” (Gen. 1:31).
Here, for example, is how Hieromartyr Peter of Damascus writes about this:
“God created everything that exists for our benefit. Angels protect and teach us. Demons tempt us to humble ourselves and resort to God; through them we are saved and delivered from exaltation and negligence due to fear of temptations”...
St. writes about the same thing. Isaac the Syrian:
“For this reason God increased temptations, so that we, fearing them, would run to Him.”
The wise shepherd Fr. writes about the inevitability of opposites in the world and about God’s conversion of “evil” (in the concept of man) into “good” with God. John S:
“If you do not experience the evil machinations of the evil spirit, you will not recognize and honor as you should the benefits bestowed upon you by the Good Spirit. If you do not recognize the killing spirit, you will not recognize the life-giving Spirit.
Only because of the direct opposites of good and evil, life and death, do we clearly recognize both; Without being exposed to troubles and the dangers of physical or spiritual death, you will not heartily recognize the Savior, the Giver of Life, who delivers from these troubles and from spiritual death...
Glory to God, the All-Wise and All-Good, that He allows the spirit of evil and death to tempt and torment us. Otherwise, how would we begin to value the consolation of grace, the consolation of the Comforting, Life-giving Spirit.”
“If you do not experience the evil machinations of the evil spirit, you will not recognize and honor as you should the benefits bestowed upon you by the Good Spirit. If you do not recognize the killing spirit, you will not recognize the life-giving Spirit.
At the same time, as hieromonk (later archbishop) John (Shakhovskoy) writes:
“If any of the people can rebel against God because of misfortunes in the world, then by this he spiritually separates himself, cuts himself off from the great care of God, which melts the eternal out of the temporary, and therefore does not recognize the world of God as his world and does not feel that The cause of the world is also its cause.
After all, he is called to participate in this matter; he does not control it - he is controlled by the One who is millions and millions of times wiser, fairer and more powerful than man. And He knows what is needed. This mystery of adoption, of trusting acceptance of the sorrows of the world, is revealed in the New Testament and in the Book of Job.”
