On Following God's Will

The first week of Lent is coming to a close (tomorrow, but I don't typically post on the weekends), and I hope it has been a blessed week for y'all as much as it has been for me. Every morning I have been waking up with stiffness and pain, but that reminds me that I am still alive and not quite done with whatever God's plan for my life is. Do I always follow God's will? No, probably not even remotely close, but I do continue to pick myself up and keep trying.

"No good works are accomplished by our efforts alone but by the power and will of God. Nevertheless, God demands effort on our part in conforming to His will." These are the words of Saints Barsanuphius and John. Few words but much said. We are obliged to labor, to cultivate and to prepare every good thing, and if some good will take root, grow and bring forth fruit, that is up to the power and will of God. We plow the furrows and God sows, if He wills it. We cleanse the vessels of the Spirit and God pours the Spirit into these vessels, if He wills it. He can do anything if He wills it. And He will do everything that responds to the highest wisdom and suitability, that is, to His plan of man's salvation. In interpreting the words of our Lord, "So be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves" (St. Matthew 10:16), St. John Chrysostom writes that our Lord gave this commandment to His disciples that "they themselves should cooperate in some way, so that it will not to appear that all effort is of Grace alone and for them not to think that they received the wreaths of glory for nothing." And so, both of them are indispensable for our salvation: our effort and the power of God's Grace.(Prologue - Reflection, March 11th)

 Any good works that we accomplish is not through our own power or through our own will, but rather through the power and the will of God. It does take our effort, however, to work in conjunction with God's will. We cannot sit idly by and expect God to just use us as if we are just some marionettes and God is the puppet master.

God has always given us freewill - we have no strings attached that make us move where He wants us to; instead we have a guide, a roadmap, a GPS, to show us how to get to where God wants us and it is up to us if we follow that guide. Do we want to follow God's will? Then we must put in the effort.

This life is not like the lazy river that will just carry us around as we simply float. This life is a journey and a race; the journey is started by us taking that first step, but it is continued by taking steps and continuing to take steps until the very end.

We must cooperate with God and His will - we must follow the map or we will fond ourselves lost and off the path. And just as when we get lost on our mundane journeys and must stop to ask directions, so too must we ask for directions when we get lost on our spiritual journey.

But we must never think that we've accomplished everything on our own, for surely we had help along the way. God gave us the choices, He left the decision to follow His will to us - but He left signposts for us to follow, and others to ask for help should we get lost.

I do not know what God's will is, but I pray that I follow it. I might stumble, trip, and get lost along the way - I can just lie there and wallow, I can try to forge my own path, or I can seek help to get on the right path. I hope that I continue to stay on the right path and seek help when I falter. I pray that I cooperate with God's will.

Pray for me, a sinner.