The world, the flesh and the devil are constantly battering at the door of our souls. It is hard to hear the Voice of God amidst the clamor…
He is trying to get His Voice heard above the din and we must learn to tone down our own self-inflicted noise in order to hear Him…
1867 by George Frederick Watts
by St. Francis de Sales, Finding God’s Will for You
Oh, how happy are they who keep their hearts open to holy inspirations! They never lack the graces necessary to them in order to live well and devoutly according to their conditions, and to fulfill in a holy way the duties of their professions.
Just as God, by the ministry of nature, gives to each animal instincts needed for its preservation and the exercise of its natural properties, so too, if we do not resist God’s grace, He gives to each of us the inspirations needed to live, work, and preserve ourselves in the spiritual life.
“Ah, Lord,” said the faithful Eliezer, “Behold, I stand here at this spring of water, and the daughters of the inhabitants of this city will come out to draw water. Therefore, the maid to whom I shall say, ‘Let down the pitcher that I may drink,’ and she shall answer, ‘Drink, and I will water your camels also,’ she it is whom you have chosen for your servant Isaac.”
Eliezer does not express any desire for water except for himself, but the fair Rebecca was obedient to the inspiration that God and her own kindness gave her and also offered water to his camels.
For this deed she was made the spouse of holy Isaac, fair daughter of the great Abraham, and ancestral mother of the Savior.
Souls not content merely with doing what the Divine Spouse requires of them by His commandments and counsels, but who are prompt to follow sacred inspirations, are truly those whom the eternal Father has prepared to be spouses of His beloved Son.
With regard to the good Eliezer, since he could not otherwise distinguish among the daughters of Haran — that is, the town of Nahor — which one among them was destined for his master’s son, God enabled him to recognize her by means of inspiration.
When we do not know what to do and men’s help is lacking to us in our perplexities, then God inspires us.
If we are humbly obedient, He does not permit us to fall into error.
“How many young people hesitate to give their lives entirely to God because they do not have confidence that God is capable of making them completely happy. And they seek to assure their own happiness by themselves, and they make themselves sad and unhappy in the process. All our spiritual life consists precisely in a long process of reeducation, with a view to regaining that lost confidence, by the grace of the Holy Spirit Who makes us say anew to God: Abba, Father!” -Fr. Jacques Philippe
Excellent talk!
For some great reading suggestions, take a peek at My Book List!
