CONFORMITY TO GOD'S WILL
This is the simple formula to be
holy and enter the Kingdom of God. It is all we have to do to become saints.
. . nothing else. The problem is knowing God's will. Most often we choose our
will and call it God's will.
All spiritual writers, like the
Imitation and the writings of St. Francis de Sales, describe how to go
about it. It is sometimes referred to as resignation to God's will.
The whole gist of the matter
lies in the will. It is not a question of how much we know, how clever we
are, or even how good. It all depends upon the heart's love. . .which
resides in the will.
External actions are the result
of love; love, so to speak, comes from the heart that is the seat of the
free will. And holiness consists in that the will always desires that which
is good. . .and only God is good.
The kingdom of God within us
consists in always willing whatever God wills. . .wholly and unreservedly.
This is how 'Thy kingdom come' is fulfilled. And 'Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven." We become identified with Him. . . we become one
with Him.
Blessed are the poor in Spirit.
. .who are these? Those who strip themselves of all they can call their own,
even their will; for this is to be truly poor in spirit. To will only what
He wills and desiring nothing which He does not will. With this, nothing can
happen to you except God's will. . . thus, you will find unfailing comfort
and rest in submitting to His will and pleasure.
When your will is conformed to
that of God, you will feel nothing to be an unbearable evil; for everything,
even the most cruel sufferings, will "turn to good" for you. Who
would call evil the sorrows which God lays on him with a view to purify and
make him fit for Himself? He who works out such exceeding good cannot be
evil.
Cast all your cares into the
bosom of your loving Father. Let Him do as He sees fit with you.
God gave you a free will so that
you may have something to give back in return. There is nothing we can call
our own than our free will. . .nothing else is ours. Health, wealth and
mental powers can easily be taken away. . .only our own will remains ours.
And it is this that God is jealous of, for He gave it, not that we should
use it as our own but, that we might restore it to Him, wholly and
undividedly. Whoever holds back any particle of reluctance or desire as his
right defrauds his Maker, to whom all is due.
(11-05-02)
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