When will the trial we go through be over? When will the good news come? The answer is in us.
Let us not forget that Adam fell not because he denied the existence of God, but because he denied His will in his disobedience. We do not know what is inside the Holy Trinity. The only thing we know is that there is perfect obedience.
Obedience is the way of existence of beings. Obedience = life; disobedience = death.
In order to heal the death of disobedience, the Word of God came and became incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ and became obedient to death and to death on the Cross. For this reason, God also exalted Him and gave Him a name, which is above any name: that, in Jesus’ name, all knees should bow.
Monks’ experience: When will the trial we be over?
Some people criticize monks for not doing anything and having a parasitic life, but now these people are at the height of despair when they must live only a small part of a monastic life. Let us not forget, however, that monks are confined in a monastery for all of their lives and, so, we can learn from them how to handle such situations.
We must, first of all, have a simple belief that our good God will solve this current situation. This belief must be a simple belief, without doubt and analysis. Of course, we will do what is humanly possible—but, first of all, we need faith because, otherwise, we will panic.
Based on this belief, we will observe that, in certain subjects, the recommendations of the leadership are from God. Leaders are far from perfect, but God has spoken through them in certain matters. That’s all. The administrative leadership does not have the competence to enter the field of church leadership, nor does the church leadership enter the field of administrative leadership. So, the Church’s services should be kept—with people at a current distance imposed by the administrative management. But will everyone involved be obedient?
Once it is obvious that certain commandments are from God, we must obey. Those who command not to behave like masters because we are all obedient to someone (including them) and the Almighty IS the unseen Master of the masters seen . . . . “And Justice for All.”
How to learn to be obedient
For this, we need manhood, determination, stepping on self-love and saying in our minds, “I have to do this!” If we have a negative attitude, it will be much more difficult for us, and we will not have results. Let’s not think we will escape. Without obedience, the trial we go through will not end.
In order to improve your obedience, do the following: every day, cut off a little bit of your will. For example, “I’m thinking about watching this news.” But I will cut my will and I will not watch. “I’m thinking of saying this or that.” I will cut my will and not say, “I’m thinking of taking an initiative.” I will cut my will and ask ahead.
Thirdly, we need prayer and the thought of the crowns and the heavenly kingdom where is my house and awaits me. Does it sound outdated for you? Very bad. The truth is eternal. We need a daily prayer program. Small but it must be. First of all, we are interested in constancy. Let’s cut off the will that pulls us back and forth. „I’m thinking of breaking my schedule”. I will cut my will and keep myself on schedule.
In this way I will become free and the trial we are going through will end.
Based on Saint Dorotheos of Gaza, Saint Ephraim of Katounakia, Elder Joseph of Vatopedi, Philippians 2:8-11
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