Saint Anne Orthodox Church

After we developed an understanding on how to discover the will of God through prayer and advice from spiritual fathers, today we will try to learn few things about another aspect of the divine will which is called divine providence. Accepting and understanding the will of God in everything that is happening around us and with us, both good and bad, is a subject that occupies an important place in Orthodox spirituality. “Life is much easier for the man who is given over to the will of God, since in illness, in poverty and persecution, he reflects thus: ‘Such is God’s pleasure, and I must endure on account of my sins” writes St Siluan and he continues: “The best thing of all is to surrender to God’s will, and bear affliction with confidence in God. The Lord seeing our affliction will never give us too much to bear. If we seem to ourselves to be greatly afflicted, it means that we have not surrendered to the will of God.” Trying to understand the purpose and the role of the afflictions, misfortunes and trials in our lives we need to direct our attention to what is called “spiritual law”. The spiritual law can be viewed as the expression of God’s comprehensive providence, through which the misfortunes that befell us, are to be regarded as appropriate instruments for our correction, arranged for the benefit of our souls. Unexpected trials are sent by God to teach us to live a spiritual life, and they lead us to repentance even when we are reluctant. Even more, the afflictions that come upon us are the result of our own sins. Elder Joseph the Hesychast is teaching us that ‘the practical aspect of the life in Christ conceals the most complex mystery in human life. Two titanic forces linked together by man create an immense and unbreakable tug of war with man in the middle, each frantically pulling him towards itself in order to win him over. Two loves, standing in opposition and turned towards opposite poles, form the motive power of these two forces: love towards God and love of this world. The victim, man, is not always in a position consciously to discern his own preferences, and this gives rise to retrospective changes. The occasions and causes which serve to awaken the human beings who are entangled in these forces are known as trials.”