Calm Waters
Had to think for a moment before I could conjure a good title for this entry. There isn't much going on just now to be honest. All is well, all is calm. I could be praying a lot more than I am, but my life is so smooth just now that honestly, motivation is less obvious than it should be.
I heard an intelligent woman say once, that she knew she was doing what God wanted when her life was like a war. If things were too easy, it was likely because Satan had no objection to her current course of action. Then during a calm period of my life I asked her, what now? Am I doing wrong? Her reply to me was that no, I was not necessarily doing wrong just because my life was not chaotic and difficult, she described it as being a low burn. God tests us out of the fire as often as in it. A friend of mine has told me many times that Christianity flourishes under persecution, because it is much easier to choose the right path, when the wrong one is clearly defined by the evil men that walk it. When there is no obvious obstacle to the Christian life, we loose our way more easily. It is harder to be a Christian when nobody is pointing a gun at your head than when someone is. It is harder to walk the walk every day with nobody threatening your life, and everybody offering you easy, seductive, sinful ways to achieve pleasure.
I once asked Fr. John, what he thought the purpose of the suffering of the Christians at the end of time was. He said that he believed that it was the best way to help the true believers stay true when the Antichrist is at his most seductive. That makes sense to me. The more dire our circumstances, the more suffering God allows us to experience, forcing us to turn to him for comfort.
Our peril is never greater than when we are blind to it. Lord of Life and Light, Open our Eyes.
Alexey the Sinner.
I heard an intelligent woman say once, that she knew she was doing what God wanted when her life was like a war. If things were too easy, it was likely because Satan had no objection to her current course of action. Then during a calm period of my life I asked her, what now? Am I doing wrong? Her reply to me was that no, I was not necessarily doing wrong just because my life was not chaotic and difficult, she described it as being a low burn. God tests us out of the fire as often as in it. A friend of mine has told me many times that Christianity flourishes under persecution, because it is much easier to choose the right path, when the wrong one is clearly defined by the evil men that walk it. When there is no obvious obstacle to the Christian life, we loose our way more easily. It is harder to be a Christian when nobody is pointing a gun at your head than when someone is. It is harder to walk the walk every day with nobody threatening your life, and everybody offering you easy, seductive, sinful ways to achieve pleasure.
I once asked Fr. John, what he thought the purpose of the suffering of the Christians at the end of time was. He said that he believed that it was the best way to help the true believers stay true when the Antichrist is at his most seductive. That makes sense to me. The more dire our circumstances, the more suffering God allows us to experience, forcing us to turn to him for comfort.
Our peril is never greater than when we are blind to it. Lord of Life and Light, Open our Eyes.
Alexey the Sinner.
posted by Alexios at 1:59 AM
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