God's Will vs Self Will (Part 2)
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“I don’t want a life that is not touched by the will of God. I don’t want a life that does not have God’s hand and imprint. I don’t want a life where I am not continually seeking spirit and His purpose for me. Life becomes very simple when we allow God to be God. To live every day as a surrender to His will. To pray over our choices and decisions. And to know that He is with us. Always.” (Jackie Morfesis)
“There is a movement toward God, and there is a temptation toward the self. We tend to concentrate on the self when we choose; it’s the shopper’s temptation…when we catch ourselves trying to solve our personal problems with our minds, we realize the futility of this enterprise and give up the problems to the Personal Absolute. We cease trying to be our own savior, and we commend ourselves to the mercies of our true Savior.” (Father Stephen Freeman, Hieromonk Damascene Christensen)
“Self-assurance in the spiritual life is always a temptation, for to keep the word truly and bear “fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15) brings pain. If we are committed to being God’s servants, we will seek out God’s will rather than our own. We will not constantly be asking for particular things or outcomes (giving God our ‘honey do list”), as we will trust God to provide what is good and necessary for our salvation.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)
“Often, God wants to help us, but He can’t, because we don’t allow Him to draw near to us, to bring peace to our souls. We resist and close all doors to God in advance. Therefore…we must know our illness and infirmity well, realize and accept it, and say: “This is how I am, and I throw myself before God as I am”—then and only then will you be able to find peace of soul…As fish live in the sea, so we live in the ocean of God’s grace. The ebbs and flow of the Almighty’s lovingkindness carry us where His goodness would have us go. If we fight against the currents of God’s will, we soon sink with exhaustion. And if we think we must earn whatever goodness we can, we choose to live and die outside the waters of God’s mercy.” (St. John Climacus, Metropolitan Athanasios, Fr. Basil)
“Let us put aside our own will and accept God’s will, and we will receive Heaven into ourselves. “God gave us the freedom to choose,…between good and evil, between the creature and the Creator, between our own selves and God. Let us choose God and His will, and we will not lose, but rather broaden and affirm our freedom. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom,” as Holy Scripture teaches us. Let us sweep away false human freedom and live by obedience and humility—an example of which was given to us by the Most Holy Virgin Mary—so that we might acquire the All-Holy Spirit of God. Then we will feel that great, divine freedom and become the true Israel, acquiring a mind that beholds God and communes with Him face to face.” (Hieromonk Pavel Shcherbachev, St. Philaret)
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