Vigils Reading

PERFECT TRUST IN GOD

From “Unseen Warfare” by St Theophan the Recluse3

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It is very important not to rely on our own efforts in this unseen warfare. At

the same time, if we merely give up all hope of ourselves and despair of ourselves

without having found another support, we are certain to flee immediately from the

battlefield or to be overcome and taken prisoner by our enemies. Therefore,

together with complete renunciation of ourselves, “we should plant in our heart a

perfect trust in God and a complete confidence in Him. In other words we should

feel with our whole heart that we have no one to rely on except God, and that from

Him and Him alone can we expect every kind of good, every manner of help, and

victory. Since we are nothing, we can expect nothing from ourselves, except

stumblings and falls, which make us relinquish all hope of ourselves. On the other

hand, we are certain always to be granted victory by God, if we arm our heart with

a living trust in Him and an unshakable certainty that we will receive His help…

The following thoughts will help you to be grounded in this hope and,

thereby, to receive help: 1) God is Omnipotent and can do all that He chooses,

and therefore can also help us… 2) God, being Omniscient and Wise, knows all

in the most perfect manner, and therefore knows fully what Is best for the salvation

of each one of us… 3) God is infinitely Good and comes to us with ineffable love,

always desirous and ready…from moment to moment to give us all the help we

need for complete victory in the spiritual warfare which takes place in us, as soon

as we run with firm trust to the protection of His arms.

And how is it possible that our good Shepherd, Who for three years went in

search of sheep that had gone astray, calling so loudly that His throat became

parched, and following ways so hard and thorny that He shed all His blood and

gave up His life; how is it possible, I repeat, that now, if His sheep follow Him, turn

to Him with love and call for His help with hope, He should fail to turn His eyes to

the lost sheep, take it into His divine arms and, placing it among the heavenly

angels, make a welcoming feast for its sake? If our God never ceases to search

diligently and lovingly for the blind and deaf sinner (like the woman for the piece

of silver in the Gospels), how is it possible to suppose that He would abandon him

now when, like a lost sheep, he cries out calling for his Shepherd? And who will

ever believe that God, Who, according to the Revelation, constantly stands at the

door of a man’s heart, and knocks, wishing to come in and sup with him, and

bestow His gifts upon him, who will believe that this same God should remain deaf

and refuse to enter if a man opens to Him the door of his heart and invites Him in?

And the fourth method of maintaining a lively trust in God and of attracting

His speedy help is to review in our memory all the instances of speedy divine help

described in the Scriptures. These instances, which are so numerous, show us

clearly that no one, who put his trust in God, was ever left confounded and without

help.

Armed with these four weapons, enter the battle with courage…and wage

war watchfully with the full conviction that victory will be granted you. For with

their help you will most certainly acquire perfect trust in God, and this trust will

never fail to attract God’s help… These two together will in the end make

complete distrust of yourself deeply rooted in you… Without any self-reliance, led

only by your trust in God, take care always to preserve an attitude in which the

consciousness and feeling of your weakness always precede in you the

contemplation of God’s omnipotence, and let both alike precede your every action.

3 Theophan the Recluse. Unseen Warfare. Accessed online:7