LACK OF FAITH VS. GOD'S PROVIDENCE
Saint John (Maximovich) of Tobolsk
None of our own attempts and efforts can save us without the help of
God,
but neither can God's help be beneficial to us without our own wish for
it.
No other subject was brought up by the Lord to His disciples so
frequently
as lack of faith. He warned everyone against lack of faith not only by
His
words, but also by the multitude of events which amazingly proved the
power
of faith and the powerlessness of mistrust or doubt in God's protection
and
salvation from danger.
Lack of faith comes in different forms: some people have little faith
in
God because He does not punish His enemies; others doubt they would be
able
to entreat God to grant them their desires, especially when their
conscience bothers them with the thought that God will not forgive them
their sins; still others fear that God will deprive them of all earthly
goods and subsistence. This triple manifestation of lack of faith
estranges
many people from God and immerses them in various forms of perdition.
The source of our lack of faith is our excessive conceit, i.e. when we
think more of ourselves than of God, rely more on our own powers than
on
God's help.
What is the reason for God allowing the destruction of such a great
number
of people, who are injured or killed through sorcery? It is not
surprising:
lack of faith has become so widespread among the people that it merits
punishment. Many do not look for other doctors except sorcerers
(extrasensorists and simmilar kind ), nor other pharmaceuticals except
deviltry. God justly punishes us by the same means that we use to sin
against Him.
As our faith and hope in God increase, so increase His mercy and
benevolence to us. But woe unto us, that there are so few of us who
believe
in God with all their heart! If we analyze human customs and habits, we
will see that in all places and at all times lack of faith becomes
prominent and widespread, which gives rise to empty and false fears.
People
often fear a shortage of food supplies; sometimes they fear that they
will
lack necessary items during an illness; at times they fall into despair
over ever-growing rumors of war. All of this occurs because they have
an
erroneous and doubtful understanding of God's benevolence and His
omnipotent strength: this is also the cause of our mind's poor and sad
concern over temporal things, as opposed to a concern for achieving a
blessed eternal life.
God's Providence manifests itself with the greatest wisdom: not every
transgression is normally punished straightaway; however, neither is it
left totally unpunished. If God never punished vileness, many people
would
think that there is no Providence. On the other hand, if every
transgression were immediately followed by punishment, it would then be
thought that there is no reward or punishment after death. Therefore
God,
by punishing only some people, reveals His Providence; by not punishing
others directly after their transgressions, He threatens them with
punishment directly after death, in the next life, if they do not
repent in
this life. Everything is done by God with great wisdom and forethought.
In a like manner, all the contradictory manifestations that we come
across
in our lives, are all wisely directed by God's Providence; all earthly
misfortunes are transformed by God into a benefit and advantage for us;
even sinful transgressions are tolerated in order to bring us to our
senses, and to achieve our salvation through repentance. For to do good
deeds and to tolerate heinous ones is characteristic exclusively of
divine
Providence, since God would never allow the existence of evil were He
not
as mighty and good as to produce good consequences from all evil deeds.
God's Providence is concealed from us, unfathomable to us, but it
comprises
an all-encompassing order for ruling the world rationally and justly.
We
are usually quite observant of the external order of universal and
particular events; however, the wondrous and wise Providence of God,
which
activates the cosmic mechanism and preserves and directs its activity,
is
hidden from us, and we cannot see it. It is for this reason that many
people, seeing a contradiction from a human point of view in the
well-being
of bad persons and the tribulations of good ones, assert that God's
Providence does not exist, but that everything occurs through man's
will
and reason, or through blind luck or misfortune.
However, all these things are seen and understood quite differently by those who believe in the great wisdom of God and in His Providence, which directs everything to the good. If, seeing how God-fearing people are often humiliated and insulted, while heinous scoundrels prosper, we think that Providence is sleeping, this is because we are looking upon only one side of God's Providence, while the other side is hidden from us because of our narrow viewpoint, which is unable to extend itself to fully encompass God's destinies. Only in the second coming of Christ will we learn of God's just judgment of everyone and everything.