“Is it God’s will for me to marry this man?” “What about going to work in a specific organization in order to enter such and such an institute?” “Is God’s will for some event in my life and for some action of mine?” We ask ourselves questions like these all the time. How can we understand whether we act in life according to the will of God or on our own? And in general, do we understand the will of God correctly? Answered by Archpriest Alexy Uminsky, rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Khokhly.
– How can God’s will manifest itself in our lives?
– I think it can manifest itself through the circumstances of life, the movement of our conscience, the reflections of the human mind, through comparisons with the commandments of God, through, first of all, a person’s very desire to live according to the will of God.
More often than not, the desire to know God’s will arises spontaneously: five minutes ago we didn’t need it, and suddenly boom, we urgently need to understand God’s will. And most often in everyday situations that do not concern the main thing.
Here some life circumstances become the main thing: to marry or not to marry, to go left, right or straight, what will you lose - a horse, a head or something else, or vice versa will you gain? The person begins, as if blindfolded, to poke in different directions.
I think that knowing the will of God is one of the main tasks of human life, an urgent task every day. This is one of the main requests of the Lord’s Prayer, to which people do not pay enough attention.
– Yes, we say: “Thy will be done” at least five times a day. But we ourselves internally want “everything to be fine” according to our own ideas...
– Vladyka Anthony of Sourozh very often said that when we say “Thy will be done,” we actually really want our will to be, but so that at that moment it coincides with the will of God, is sanctioned, approved by Him. At its core, this is a crafty idea.
The will of God is neither a secret, nor a secret, nor some kind of code that needs to be deciphered; to know it, you don’t have to go to the elders, you don’t have to specifically ask someone else about it.
The Monk Abba Dorotheos writes about it this way:
“Another may think: if someone does not have a person whom he could question, then what should he do in this case? If someone wants to truly, with all his heart, fulfill the will of God, then God will never leave him, but will instruct him in every possible way according to His will. Truly, if someone directs his heart according to the will of God, then God will enlighten the little child to tell him His will. If someone does not want to sincerely do the will of God, then even though he will go to the prophet, and God will put it on the prophet’s heart to answer him, in accordance with his corrupted heart, as the Scripture says: and if a prophet is deceived and speaks a word, the Lord has deceived that prophet. (Ezek. 14:9).”
Although every person, to one degree or another, suffers from some kind of internal spiritual deafness. Brodsky has this line: “I’m a little deaf. God, I am blind." Developing this inner hearing is one of the main spiritual tasks of a believer.
There are people who are born with an absolute ear for music, but there are those who do not hit the notes. But with constant practice, they can develop their missing ear for music. Even if not to the absolute extent. The same thing happens to a person who wants to know the will of God.
– What spiritual exercises are needed here?
– Yes, no special exercises, you just need a great desire to hear and trust God. This is a serious struggle with oneself, which is called asceticism. Here is the main center of asceticism, when instead of yourself, instead of all your ambitions, you put God at the center.
– How can we understand that a person is really fulfilling the will of God, and is not acting arbitrarily, hiding behind it? So the holy righteous John of Kronstadt boldly prayed for the recovery of those asking and knew that he was fulfilling the will of God. On the other hand, it’s so easy, hiding behind the fact that you act according to the will of God, to do something unknown...
– Of course, the concept of “God’s will” in itself can be used, like everything in human life, simply for some kind of manipulation. It is too easy to arbitrarily attract God to your side, to use the will of God to justify the suffering of someone else, your own mistakes and your own inaction, stupidity, sin, and malice.
We attribute a lot of things to God. God is often on our trial, as the accused. The will of God is unknown to us only because we do not want to know it. We replace it with our fictions and use it to realize some false aspirations.
The real will of God is unobtrusive, very tactful. Unfortunately, anyone can easily use this phrase to their advantage. People manipulate God. It’s easy for us to justify our crimes or sins all the time by saying that God is with us.
We see this happening before our eyes today. How people with the words “God’s Will” on their T-shirts hit their opponents in the face, insult them, and send them to hell. Is it God’s will to beat and insult? But some people believe that they themselves are the will of God. How to dissuade them from this? I don't know.
– But still, how not to make a mistake, to recognize the true will of God, and not something arbitrary?
– A huge number of things are most often done according to our own will, according to our desire, because when a person wants his will to be done, it is done. When a person wants God's will to be done and says, “Thy will be done,” and opens the door of his heart to God, then little by little the person's life is taken into God's hands. And when a person does not want this, then God says to him: “thy will be done, please.”
The question arises about our freedom, in which the Lord does not interfere, for the sake of which He limits His absolute freedom.
The Gospel tells us that God's will is the salvation of all people. God came into the world so that no one would perish. Our personal knowledge of the will of God lies in the knowledge of God, which for us also reveals the Gospel: “That they may know You, the only true God” (John 17:3), says Jesus Christ.
These words are heard at the Last Supper, at which the Lord washes the feet of His disciples and appears before them as sacrificial, merciful, saving love. Where the Lord reveals the will of God, showing the disciples and all of us the image of service and love, so that we do the same.
After washing the feet of his disciples, Christ says: “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you speak correctly, for I am exactly that. So, if I, the Lord and Teacher, washed your feet, then you should wash each other’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do the same as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. If you know this, blessed are you when you do it” (John 13:12-17).
Thus, God's will for each of us is revealed as a task for each of us to be like Christ, to be involved in Him and co-natural in His love. His will is also in that first commandment - “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind: this is the first and greatest commandment; the second is similar to it: love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).
His will is this too: “...love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28).
And, for example, in this: “Judge not, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37).
The Gospel word and the apostolic word, the word of the New Testament - all this is a manifestation of God's will for each of us. There is no will of God for sin, for insulting another person, for humiliating other people, for people to kill each other, even if their banners say: “God is with us.”
– It turns out that during a war there is a violation of the commandment “Thou shalt not kill.” But, for example, the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War, who defended their Motherland and family, did they really go against the will of the Lord?
– It is obvious that there is God’s will to protect from violence, to protect, among other things, one’s Fatherland from the “finding of foreigners”, from the ruin and enslavement of one’s people. But at the same time, there is no will of God for hatred, for murder, for revenge.
You just need to understand that those who defended their Motherland then had no other choice at the moment. But any war is a tragedy and a sin. There are no just wars.
In Christian times, all soldiers returning from war performed penance. All, despite any seemingly just war, in defense of their homeland. Because it is impossible to keep yourself pure, in love and in union with God when you have a weapon in your hands and, whether you want it or not, you are obliged to kill.
I would also like to note this: when we talk about love for enemies, about the Gospel, when we understand that the Gospel is God’s will for us, then sometimes we really want to justify our dislike and reluctance to live according to the Gospel with some almost patristic sayings.
Well, for example: give a quote taken from John Chrysostom “sanctify your hand with a blow” or the opinion of Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow that: love your enemies, beat the enemies of the Fatherland and abhor the enemies of Christ. It would seem that such a succinct phrase, everything falls into place, I always have the right to choose who is the enemy of Christ among those whom I hate and can easily name: “You are simply an enemy of Christ, and that is why I abhor you; you are an enemy of my Fatherland, that’s why I beat you.”
But here it is enough to simply look at the Gospel and see: who crucified Christ and for whom Christ prayed, asked his Father, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34)? Were they the enemies of Christ? Yes, these were the enemies of Christ, and He prayed for them. Were these the enemies of the Fatherland, the Romans? Yes, these were enemies of the Fatherland. Were these His personal enemies? Most likely no. Because Christ personally cannot have enemies. A person cannot be an enemy to Christ. There is only one creature that can truly be called an enemy - this is Satan.
And therefore, yes, of course, when your Fatherland was surrounded by enemies and your house was burned, then you must fight for it and you must fight off these enemies, you must overcome them. But the enemy immediately ceases to be an enemy as soon as he lays down his arms.
Let us remember how Russian women, whose loved ones were killed by these same Germans, treated the captured Germans, how they shared a meager piece of bread with them. Why at that moment did they cease to be personal enemies for them, remaining enemies of the Fatherland? The love and forgiveness that the captured Germans saw then, they still remember and describe in their memoirs...
If one of your neighbors suddenly insulted your faith, you probably have the right from this person to cross to the other side of the street. But this does not mean that you are freed from the right to pray for him, to wish for the salvation of his soul and in every possible way to use your own love for the conversion of this person.
– The Apostle Paul says: “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18) This means that everything that happens to us is according to His will. Or do we act on our own?
– I think it’s correct to quote the entire quote: “Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:16-18).
God's will for us is that we live in a state of prayer, joy and thanksgiving. So that our condition, our completeness, lies in these three important actions of the Christian life.
– A person clearly does not want illness or trouble for himself. But all this happens. By whose will?
– Even if a person does not want troubles and illnesses to happen in his life, he cannot always avoid them. But there is no will of God for suffering. There is no will of God on the mountain. There is no will of God for the death and torture of children. It is not the will of God for there to be wars or bombing of Donetsk and Lugansk, for Christians in that terrible conflict, located on opposite sides of the front line, taking communion in Orthodox churches, and then going to kill each other.
God doesn't like our suffering. Therefore, when people say: “God sent the disease,” this is a lie, blasphemy. God does not send diseases.
They exist in the world because the world lies in evil.
– It’s difficult for a person to understand all this, especially when he finds himself in trouble...
– We don’t understand many things in life, relying on God. But if we know that “God is love” (1 John 4:8), we should not be afraid. And we don’t just know from books, but we understand through our experience of living according to the Gospel, then we may not understand God, at some point we may not even hear Him, but we can trust Him and not be afraid.
Because if God is love, even something happening to us at the moment seems completely strange and inexplicable, we can understand and trust God, know that with Him there can be no catastrophe.
Let us remember how the apostles, seeing that they were drowning in a boat during a storm, and thinking that Christ was sleeping, were horrified that everything was already over and now they would drown, and no one would save them. Christ said to them: “Why are you so fearful, you of little faith!” (Matthew 8:26) And - stopped the storm.
The same thing that happens to the apostles happens to us. It seems to us that God does not care about us. But in fact, we must follow the path of trust in God to the end, if we know that He is love.
– But still, if we take our everyday life. I would like to understand where His plan for us is, what it is. A person stubbornly applies to a university and is accepted the fifth time. Or maybe I should have stopped and chosen a different profession? Or do childless spouses undergo treatment, spend a lot of effort to become parents, and maybe, according to God’s plan, they don’t need to do this? And sometimes, after years of treatment for childlessness, spouses suddenly give birth to triplets...
– It seems to me that God may have many plans for a person. A person can choose different paths in life, and this does not mean that he violates the will of God or lives according to it. Because the will of God can be for different things for one particular person, and at different periods of his life. And sometimes it is God’s will for a person to go astray and through failure to learn some important things for himself.
The will of God is educational. It is not a test for the Unified State Exam, where you need to fill in the required box with a tick: if you fill it out, you find out, if you don’t fill it out, you made a mistake, and then your whole life is going wrong. Not true. The will of God happens to us constantly, as a kind of movement of us in this life on the path to God, along which we wander, fall, are mistaken, go in the wrong direction, and enter the clear path.
And the whole path of our life is God’s amazing upbringing of us. This does not mean that if I entered somewhere or did not enter, this is God’s will for me forever or the absence thereof. There is no need to be afraid of this, that's all. Because the will of God is a manifestation of God’s love for us, for our lives, this is the path to salvation. And not the path of entering or not entering the institute...
You need to trust God and stop being afraid of God’s will, because it seems to a person that God’s will is such an unpleasant, unbearable thing, when you have to forget about everything, give up everything, break yourself completely, reshape yourself and, above all, lose your freedom.
And a person really wants to be free. And so it seems to him that if God’s will, then this is just deprivation of freedom, such torment, an incredible feat.
But in fact, the will of God is freedom, because the word “will” is a synonym for the word “freedom”. And when a person truly understands this, he will not be afraid of anything.
Oksana Golovko
Throughout our lives, we more than once find ourselves faced with a choice of what to do, which path to take, and not just to follow, but to ensure that this path corresponds to God’s will for us. How can we find out the will of God? How do we know that the choice we make is the right one? The pastors of the Russian Church give their advice.
The question of how to find out the will of God is perhaps one of the most important in our lives. Agree that the will of God is the most accurate and true measure of how we should act.
To know or feel the will of God in a particular case, many conditions are needed. This is a good knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, this is slowness in decision, this is the advice of a confessor.
To properly understand Holy Scripture, first, it must be read prayerfully, that is, read not as a text for discussion, but as a text that is understood prayerfully. Secondly, in order to understand the Holy Scriptures, it is necessary, as the apostle says, not to be conformed to this age, but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind (see: Rom. 12:2). In Greek, the verb “not to be conformed” means: not to have a common pattern with this age: that is, when they say: “Everyone thinks like this in our time,” this is a certain pattern, and we should not conform to it. If we want to know the will of God, we must deliberately discard and ignore what one of the 17th century sages, Francis Bacon, called “the idols of the crowd,” that is, the opinions of others.
All Christians without exception are told: “I appeal to you, brethren, by the mercies of God... do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:1-2 ); “Do not be foolish, but understand what is the will of God” (Eph. 5:17). And in general, the will of God can only be known through personal communication with Him. Therefore, a close relationship with Him and serving Him will be a necessary condition for finding an answer to our question.
Live in accordance with God's commandments
How to find out the will of God? Yes, it’s very simple: you need to open the New Testament, the First Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians, and read: “This is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3). And we are sanctified by obedience to God.
So there is only one sure way to know the will of God - this is to live in harmony with the Lord. And the more we establish ourselves in such a life, the more we seem to take root, establish ourselves in God’s likeness, and acquire real skill in understanding and fulfilling the will of God, that is, in the conscious and consistent fulfillment of His commandments. This is general, and the particular follows from this general. Because if a person in some specific life situation wants to know God’s will about himself and, let’s say, learns it from some spirit-bearing elder, but the disposition of the person himself is not spiritual, then he will not be able to understand, accept, or fulfill this will... So the main thing is, without a doubt, a sober, spiritual life and attentive fulfillment of God’s commandments.
And if a person is going through some important period in his life and he really wants to make the right choice, to act Godly in this or that difficult situation, then based on all that has been said, the first way to find out the will of God is to strengthen his church life, then there is to bear special spiritual labor: to speak, to confess, to receive communion, to show greater than usual zeal in prayer and reading the word of God - this is the main work for someone who really wants to know the will of God in this or that matter. And the Lord, seeing such a sober and serious disposition of the heart, will certainly make His holy will clear and give strength to fulfill it. This is a fact that has been verified many times and by a variety of people. You just need to show constancy, patience and determination in seeking the truth of God, and not in pleasing your dreams, desires and plans... Because everything mentioned is already self-will, that is, not the plans, dreams and hopes themselves, but the desire for everything to be exactly the way we want. Here is a question of real faith and self-denial, if you like, readiness to follow Christ, and not your ideas about what is right and useful. It is impossible without this.
Prayer of Abba Isaiah: “God, show mercy to me and, whatever pleases You about me, inspire my father (name) to say it about me.”
In Rus', it is customary to ask for advice at especially important moments in life from the elders, that is, from experienced confessors endowed with special grace. This desire is deeply rooted in the tradition of Russian church life. Only, when going for advice, we need to remember, again, that spiritual work is required of us: strong prayer, abstinence and repentance with humility, readiness and determination to do the will of God - that is, everything that we talked about above. But in addition, it is also imperative and earnest to pray for the enlightenment of the confessor with the grace of the Holy Spirit, so that the Lord, by His mercy, through the spiritual father, will reveal to us His holy will. There are such prayers, the holy fathers write about them. Here is one of them, proposed by the Venerable Abba Isaiah:
“God, do mercy on me and, whatever pleases You about me, inspire my father (name) to say it about me.”.
Desire God's will, not your own
The will of God can be found out in different ways - through the advice of a confessor or, through reading the word of God or with the help of lots, etc. But the main thing that anyone who wants to know the will of God must have is the willingness to unquestioningly follow it in his life. If there is such a readiness, the Lord will definitely reveal His will to a person, perhaps in an unexpected way.
You need to internally prepare for any outcome, not get attached to any of the options for the development of events.
I like the patristic advice. As a rule, we long to know the will of God at the moment when we stand at a crossroads - before a choice. Or when we prefer one option for the development of events over another, less attractive to us. Firstly, you need to try to set yourself up equally in relation to any path or development of events, that is, internally prepare for any outcome, and not become attached to any of the options. Secondly, sincerely and fervently pray that the Lord will arrange everything according to His good will and do everything in a way that will be useful for us in terms of our salvation in eternity. And then, as the holy fathers claim, His Providence for us will be revealed.
Be attentive to yourself and your conscience
Be careful! To yourself, to the world around you and your neighbors. The will of God is open to a Christian in the Holy Scriptures: a person can receive an answer to his questions in it. According to St. Augustine, when we pray, we turn to God, and when we read the Holy Scriptures, the Lord answers us. The will of God is for everyone to come to salvation. Knowing this, strive to direct your will in all events of life towards God who saves.
And “in everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18).
It is quite simple to find out the will of God: if the conscience, when tested by prayer and time, does not “revolt”, if the solution to this or that issue does not contradict the Gospel and if the confessor is not against your decision, then God’s will is for that decision. Each of your actions must be viewed through the prism of the Gospel and accompanied by a prayer, even the shortest one: “Lord, bless.”
— Find out the will of God? Very good question. The will of God is what God wants to reveal to us. It seems to us that the will of God is a kind of secret behind seven seals, and we strive to find out it, but God wants to somehow hide it from us.
In fact, to know the will of God means to know what God wants to reveal to us and reveals, but we turn away from the will of God. This is what you need to understand - this is a very important point. It’s not that we live, but there is a certain will of God, which is a mystery and a secret, and we sweat and try to find out it. Although, in a sense, maybe God wants us to solve a difficult problem with effort. However, God's will is something that is easily revealed. And it is inaccessible to us because we turn away from it.
The main condition if we want to know the will of God is the renunciation of our own will. This is the meaning of obedience. That is why a child must obey his parents - he must learn to give up his will, no matter what kind of parents he has - pious, ungodly, smart, stupid. Why should a wife obey her husband no matter what? I sometimes ask women when they come to confession, an elderly woman comes, I ask: how do you listen to your husband? “Well, I’ll listen to this old fool.” But no matter what he is, he is a husband.
When you learn to obey someone - a teacher, husband, parent, confessor - you give up your will.
Many novices went to very strict confessors. And the severity of their confessors fulfilled their thirst for suffering, their thirst for obedience, their thirst to testify before God their readiness to suffer even to the point of blood and to renounce their will.
That is, one must begin to know the will of God with the ability to renounce one’s will. If a person does not know how to renounce his will, if he retains it, then no means will help him. On the contrary, God will hide His will from him. Because if he knows His will, he will resist it. As a loving Father, He does not want to subject us to more severe punishment for what we knew but did not do. He would rather hide it from us so that we don’t know, in order to punish us less.
If a person renounces his will, then the revelation of God’s will comes to him quite often. Even a child can declare His will. He can learn the will of God from reading the Gospel, from the words of his confessor. And - this is probably the most important thing here - there are, of course, special elders, special saints to whom the will of God is revealed. Clearly open.
Such an old man was Father Pavel Troitsky, about whom I may need to tell you somehow. When he was alive, we received letters from him in which it was clearly written: this is the will of God. Do this and that. There is no will of God for this marriage. And we knew that this was true. And when a person acted differently, all sorts of misfortunes and troubles happened to him. It was very easy to find out the will of God in this way. But also scary. Because the will of God may well contradict our will.
But Father Paul did not always reveal this will of God with his promise. There is one like this in Moscow, in the Conception Monastery, Abbess Juliania. She was once Masha and worked as a nurse in the pediatric intensive care unit. And she decided to get married. She was blessed by her confessor, blessed by her parents, and she did not ask Father Paul if this was not the will of God. She wrote him a letter telling him what was happening, and he wrote to her: I will pray for you, but don’t tell your future husband anything about me. He did not write that it was God's will for this marriage. She didn’t ask him, he didn’t write. Because the will of God is revealed to those who seek it.
Well, she suffered a lot, this Masha. She was tormented and didn’t know what to do. And she still wrote a letter, although it was impossible to ask Father Pavel the same thing twice. I wrote to him - is this the will of God? Father Pavel answered her that he had prayed to God for a long time, he asks for forgiveness from her, from her parents, from her confessor, he understands that he will greatly upset them, but there is no God’s will for the marriage.
After that, she refused her fiancé. And so, after this, she began to ask Father Pavel what she should do next: could she meet young people, could she think about marriage? And he wrote to her: you yourself don’t meet anyone, but if they offer you something, then you can talk about it. In the end, she asked him if it was God’s will for her to get married at all? And he wrote to her that, in fact, it is not God’s will for you to get married.
Why? Because she was supposed to become the abbess of the Conception Monastery. But it didn’t open up right away.
And God does not immediately reveal to us - this is rather not the will of God, this is a broader concept - our destiny, does not immediately reveal our future. If any of you were to discover everything that you would have to endure in life, you would probably fall into some kind of despondency or something else. So it's gradually opening up.
And in general, just as an apple is eaten piece by piece, so a person gradually becomes involved in spiritual life. But when there is such an old man, then, of course, the will of God can be known. When there is no such elder, then the Gospel helps us to recognize the will of God, the confessor helps us.
Why do we say that it would be nice to have a confessor. When I served in Moscow, I told our sisters who studied at our school, and they knew the answer to all the perplexed questions. So they asked: “What should we do if such and such is there? What should you do if such and such happens?” They always knew that the answer was: “You need to ask your confessor.”
But now here, in Smolensk, I don’t know much about confessors and I can’t tell you that you need to ask your confessor about something. Somehow I began to doubt this lately, that the priest to whom you confess - not a confessor, not a spiritual person, but any priest to whom you confess - will give you the answer to this question. That’s why I don’t recommend answering that way either, dear friends.
The will of God is known based on what is done. Now, if we start doing something, and it works out, then we believe that it is the will of God. If it doesn’t work out, we believe it doesn’t.
But, of course, it happens that at first you think that there is no will of God, then you begin to think that there is. And then again. And, it happens, your opinion about it changes many times. Since we are not spiritual people, changeable, our decision depends on our mood whether God’s will is for this or that.
But one thing must be said: you need to learn to recognize the will of God.
Father Pavel wrote letters to Father Vsevolod Shpiller. And in these letters he also wrote very often: God’s will is for this, but God’s will is not for that. And these letters were read by the son of Vsevolod’s father, Yan Vsevolodovich Shpiller - he was such a conductor. And then one day he found a book called “Iliotropion”, and decided to read it and learn to recognize the will of God.
And Father Paul wrote to him that the will of God cannot be learned from books, especially since the will of God will not be revealed to a young man.
We can rest in this fact, dear friends, that we must strive to know the will of God. How to know it? Now, if we have to do something, and we don’t know whether to do it or not, firstly, we need to reject our will. So that both solutions to the issue are absolutely equivalent to me. Whether we live or die, get sick or get better, get married or not get married, or some other issue, we must somehow separate ourselves from ourselves, and not be partial to any of these decisions.
And after this, pray earnestly to God, so that the Lord would reveal His will, so that the Lord would make it clear. And whatever the heart bows to, decide that this is exactly what you need to do.
I am not sure that we will always act according to God's will. But still, in this doing, giving up one’s will, praying to God, remembering some Gospel words - in this a certain experience arises, a certain ability to distinguish between what is bad and what is good. But this is not given immediately - there is a certain path.
To find out the will of God, you need to live a long life, probably learn to renounce your will, learn to pray. Then the will of God will be revealed.
But, of course, if we want to learn to do the will of God, it is also very important to do what we already know as the will of God.
Is it God's will to pray in the morning? Why don't we do this sometimes? Is it God's will not to be angry? But we often get angry. Is it God's will to fast? You cannot break your fast. Is it God's will not to sit on the Internet until the middle of the night? It is clear that this is the will of God.
If we do what we already know to do, then the Lord, of course, will reveal to us the will of God in other cases. And if we don’t do what we know, then what is God’s will?
And I will end these lengthy discussions about the will of God with one interesting incident that we had on Athos. Once, Father Vladimirov Vorobyov and Father Anatoly Frolov and I went from the Zagraf Monastery to the Hilandar Monastery. We asked which way there was, chose the wrong path and boldly walked along it, thinking that we were in the right direction. We were met by a man dressed in secular clothes. It was a Bulgarian priest - there are many Bulgarian priests who come to the monastery to do a little extra work. He asked us where we were going, we said to Hilandar. He said that we were going down the wrong road, we wouldn’t make it in time, the monastery would be closed, and we would have to spend the night on the street. We need to go back. But we, completely confident that we were going along the right road, because they showed it to us, began to say that this was not so, that we were going there, and began to argue with him. And he wanted to help us and began to ask: well, how is this possible? What are you hoping for? And one of us said: “We hope for the will of God.” And he answered us: “What is God’s will for fools?”
Well, fools - in the sense of people who are not humble. Of course, there are different types of fools. A humble fool is better than any proud wise man.
Therefore, of course, if we want to know the will of God, we need to strain our minds, acquire humility and be able to renounce our will. Then, of course, God’s will will certainly be revealed.
Bishop Panteleimon Shatov
What does it mean to be smart? Different people will answer this question differently. Some, for example, will call smart those who know how to make money and become rich, or those who managed to gain power, or who acquired fame and glory, or who know how to live beautifully and for their own pleasure. In a word, being smart for these people simply means achieving success in earthly life. “We live on earth only once,” they will say, “there will be no second time, therefore, we need to achieve success with all our might, acquire wealth, power and enjoy life while there is time.” The logic here is simple: we will eat, drink, have fun and take everything from life, because tomorrow we will die. Of course, many people will not be satisfied with such a frankly low concept of the human mind, and when asked who can be called smart, they will say that smart is - this is someone who has received a good education, has acquired wide erudition, speaks several languages, has traveled a lot, knows a lot, and the like. “It’s the kind of person who can be interesting and useful to communicate with,” they will say, “these are the kind of people who are really smart.” Some will also say that a smart person is an experienced, insightful person who knows life and people and knows how to apply this knowledge in his life. Such or similar answers are usually given by worldly people to the question of who can be considered smart.
Christianity, however, answers this question in a completely different way. This is what St. Anthony the Great says: “People are usually called smart because of the incorrect use of this word. Not those who are smart are those who have studied the sayings and writings of the ancient sages, but those whose souls are smart, who can judge what is good and what is evil; They run away from the evil and the harmful to the soul, but they rationally care about the good and the beneficial to the soul and do this with great thanksgiving to God. These alone should truly be called smart people. A truly intelligent person has one concern - to wholeheartedly obey and please the God of all.” From the above words of Saint Anthony, first of all, it is clear that it is impossible for a person to be smart without God. Only the one who pleases God, who fulfills His will, can be called smart. The Monk John Climacus speaks in exactly the same way about this subject, for whom to be smart means to fulfill the will of God at all times, in every place and in every matter. That is, only the one who knows the will of God in any situation and tries to fulfill it is truly smart and wise. It is precisely this kind of wisdom that the Holy Scripture teaches us when it says through the mouth of the Apostle Paul: “Do not be foolish, but know what is the will of God.” The main Christian prayer teaches the same thing, the words of which “Thy will be done” we say every day.
Actually, whose will else, besides the will of God, can a person fulfill? According to the Monk Seraphim of Sarov, a person can fulfill three wills: the first is the will of God, completely perfect and saving; the second is the will of the person himself, which even when it is not disastrous, is still not saving, and, finally, the third will is demonic, completely and always disastrous. From this it is clear that there is only one saving will - this is the will of God, and the other two wills do not save us, but lead to destruction. So, the one who wants to be saved must certainly fulfill the will of God in his life. However, in order to fulfill it, you must first know it. Is it possible for a person to know the will of God, and if possible, then how to do this? The saints knew the will of God directly from God, this is understandable. Well, for us, who are still far from the perfection of saints, how can we recognize her? This is not a simple or easy matter, it is a science that you cannot overcome right away. It cannot be studied purely theoretically, as, for example, the laws of physics or traffic rules are studied. It is studied only through many works, many struggles and trials, many experiences of Christian life. As a person draws closer to God, he receives from Him the gift of spiritual reasoning and becomes able to accurately recognize His will.
What is the gift of spiritual reasoning? According to Elder Paisius the Holy Mountain, spiritual reasoning is purity, Divine enlightenment, spiritual clarity. Christians should strive in every possible way to acquire this gift. For those who have not yet reached this high level, there are some ways that can help on the path to studying this science. So, firstly, anyone who wants to fulfill the will of God in his life must certainly read and carefully study His Word - the Holy Scriptures, in which the Lord Himself reveals His will to man. And you don’t just need to read Scripture, but you need to fulfill in life what is written there. That is, we must try to apply the words of Scripture to every situation in life. With any of our choices, we need to remember that the Lord is now looking at us, and think about what He expects from us and how He would like us to act. We need to remember what words, what commandments of Scripture can be applied to a given situation and, based on this, try to make the right choice, that is, a choice pleasing to God. A person who conforms his actions to the Word of God will gradually increase in the knowledge of the will of God. Secondly, those who want to do the will of God must read the lives and works of the holy fathers. Saints are people who laid down their lives to fulfill the will of God, and therefore they can teach us the same. Reading the lives of the saints, we should imitate them, try to live the way they lived. That is, when we don’t know what to do, we need to remember how the saints acted in the same or similar situation, and try, as far as possible for us, to act in a similar way. If we fulfill this to the best of our ability, then we will become imitators of the saints in fulfilling the will of God and little by little we will learn to recognize this will. Thirdly, there is another way to find out the will of God: ask your confessor or a spirit-bearing elder. However, you must definitely come to your confessor and elder with faith, and preface your question with a prayer to God, so that He will reveal His will through His servant. When it is not possible to ask confessors or saints, there is another way to find out the will of God: prayer to God for admonition. The Holy Fathers teach that it is good to pray three times before making any decision. The Venerable John the Prophet says that when you cannot ask your elder, then you must pray three times about every matter and after that look where your heart bows, even by a hair’s breadth, and do so; for the notification is noticeable and in every way understandable to the heart.
So, brothers and sisters, we must, using all the above means, learn the great science of knowing and doing the will of God at all times, in all places and in all matters. Because if we do not do the will of God, then we do either our own will or the will of demons - and both of them do not lead us to salvation, but, on the contrary, lead us to destruction. The only good, saving and perfect will is the will of the Lord God, our Creator. Only He alone knows how to save each of us. Only His will is our sanctification and salvation. It is His perfect will that we must seek, recognize and fulfill in every possible way all the days of our lives, according to the word of our main prayer: “Thy will be done as it is in heaven and on earth.” Amen.
Archpriest Roman Utochkin, rector of the Church of St. Michael the Archangel
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”
(Prov. 3:5-6)
Believers understand well that God has a will for them, but usually they are afraid not to notice, to miss it. I remember how many funny stories I heard as a teenager about how to know the will of God. How greatly people were mistaken, believing that the methods of Gideon, lot or a calm heart were the most verified.
Here is one such striking example. During the fellowship, one preacher told how he found his wife. He asked God to make it so that when he comes to church and offers to sing a certain song in a duet, the sister who agrees is his betrothed. And so he did. And that sister even had a dream that her fiancé was the one who would invite her to sing just that song. This is such a bright story. We were delighted - for us it was the height of spirituality. We had no idea that this is the height of human subjectivity, weak spirituality, openness to self-deception and even satanic lies, that God would stoop (yes, God can do that) to such a level for the sake of his children. We were young then and didn’t understand much. Now I look back and see how many mistakes were made by many comrades through such a “handicraft” way of knowing the will of God.
1. The Lord has His will for us
God Himself is interested in doing His will. Let's remember at least the well-known prayer “Our Father”: “...thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” He did not give His will so that it would not be fulfilled. God is the ruler of the whole world and wants the world to follow His desires. We must emphasize the fact that God has a will for you personally. But without personal knowledge of God, without peace with Him, without a real relationship with Him, it is impossible to understand His will.
2. Source of God's will
The will of God is available to all people. Not just a few particularly spiritual and dedicated men of God. It is revealed in God's Book - the Bible.
First, God's will regarding moral character is clearly and clearly decided. For example, the Ten Commandments, the relationship between husband and wife, etc.
Second, from Scripture we derive principles for various situations in life. Life decisions must be made based on these principles.
3. Knowing the will of God
First, you must have a desire to fulfill the will of God. For example, the story of the people of Israel and the prophet Jeremiah: should they have gone to Egypt or not? Although people said that they would do the will of God, they wanted it to be the same as theirs, and therefore did not submit (Jer. 42-43 ch.).
Also, we must understand that the will of God is always specific, however, God nurtures our faith and reveals everything to us little by little. This also means that we need to move forward in knowing God. That is why it is worth collecting information and asking questions, studying the Bible, listening to mature people, noticing circumstances...
God always provides the necessary amount of information to make the right decisions. Therefore, when thinking about alternative options, you should not take everything to the point of absurdity and engage in mathematical calculations. But it is important to fill your mind with God's Word and keep your heart pure. You can't rely on feelings.
4. God's leading
We often ask the wrong questions of God in our efforts to know His will. For example: who should I start a family with, where to work or where to live. Yes, these questions are quite fair, but they are not the main ones, they are secondary. It is precisely because we lose sight of the main questions and direct our minds to secondary ones that we do not receive answers to either one or the other.
God has already revealed His will, we just want to hear something different. After all, when the Lord accepted us into His family, He had a specific mission and goal for us.
Knowledge of the will of God is carried out by the inductive method, that is, from the general to the specific - we fulfill what is revealed in Scripture, and God directs us in the right direction, resolving such questions as: where to work, with whom to start a family, where to live, etc. etc. If I do not fulfill the already revealed will of God, then I should not hope to solve the remaining issues of my life.
There are many things that do not require seeking the will of God, but involve us using the abilities already given by our Creator. For example, healthy logic. Or simply what we like best. For example, which car to buy - white or red, Lada or BMW.
“But solid food belongs to those who are perfect, whose senses are accustomed by skill to distinguish between good and evil” (Heb. 5:14).
It is necessary to subordinate all areas of your life to God, and begin to learn to apply and understand the will of God.
Good luck friend! God is already waiting for you in your future. He has His will for you. You personally!
