What are the benefits of agreeing with God’s will?
Agreeing with God’s will first ensures God’s glory.
For if man submits his will to God’s will, God clears his thought and achieves the goal he intended for himself in this or that man; – and this is where God’s glory lies. Hence, the Saints had no other desire, one to know and fulfill God’s will, knowing that in this is true greatness and that this most glorifies God, which is what God’s will requires. “I would rather be a worm if God willed it,” says Blessed Henry Suzo, “than a Seraphim of my own will. “Everything we do,” says another Saint (Francis de Sales), “takes its value from conformity to God’s will, so that when I eat or play, if I do it because it is God’s will, I glorify God more and deserve more than if I give myself to martyrdom without God’s will.
Secondly, this union of the human will with the divine will honors and glorifies God, for it is the masterpiece of his grace. Twofold has the Lord orchestrated a union infinitely wise and holy, as that union of divine nature with human nature in the one Person of the eternal Word, that is, in the divine Person of Jesus Christ, – and the union of motherhood strangely fertile with virginity intact in the person of the Blessed Virgin. But after these two masterpieces, there is no thing in the world that glorifies God more and makes man more like the Son of God than the union of the human will with the divine will. For as in the mystery of the Incarnation, human nature does not exist and act by itself, only through the Person of the Word, who acts through it: so the human will, when perfectly united to the divine will, does not act by itself, but God acts through it.
And as the Humanity of the Lord Jesus, through this union with the Divine Person of Himself, became infinitely wise and holy and powerful: so likewise the human will, when it is, as it were, transformed into the will of God, becomes holy, because it is united with Holiness itself, – and powerful, because it is united with Omnipotence, – and perfect, because it is united with Infinite Goodness (1). In which is precisely the glory of God and the greatness of man.
Agreeing with God’s will provides us with great goods. From this flows holy freedom. For he who submits to the will of God thereby breaks out of the bondage of the world and self-love, and regains the freedom of the sons of God. Moreover, he always does what he wills; for since his will is united with God’s will, and God’s will is always fulfilled, so his will is also always fulfilled. Here the words of the Lord Jesus can be applied: “Whosoever hath lost his soul for my sake shall find it ” (2).
From here flows strength and fortitude.
For if you follow God’s will, you know that God will help you; and having God’s help, why should you fear? “The Lord rules over me,” you may then say with the Prophet, “and on nothing will he descend to me” (3). John the Goldsmith, a short time before his exile, spoke to the people thus:
“Christ is with me, whom shall I fear? If the whole ocean were to frown against me, I would count it as nothing, for my motto is: Thy will be done, O Lord; not what this or that wills, but what Thou wilt, let it be done. Your will is my fortress, my scale , my support.”
From here flows an unshakable peace; for what can shake one who accepts everything that befalls him willingly, knowing that everything comes from the wisest and most loving will of God. “God wills it so,” repeats the soul conforming to God’s will over and over again, and this one word keeps it in holy peace. As an infant falls asleep safely in its mother’s embrace, so freely does the soul rest in the arms of God’s will.
Once when St. Ignatius Loyola was sailing the sea, a violent storm broke, shattered the mast and scarred the sails, so that the ship was in danger of wrecking. Everyone despaired, only one St. Ignatius did not fall down, but calmly pronounced: “God is my Lord; if He wants me to perish in the waves, so be it; I willingly submit to His will and trust in His goodness.” They soon arrived in port safely; so you too, in the storms of life, seek refuge in the haven of God’s will.
From here flows lasting happiness, because agreeing with God’s will sweetens the unpleasantness and soothes the sorrow.
Why do people feel unhappy ?
Here it is simply because they either want what God doesn’t want, or they don’t want what God wants; and as a wooden cross is formed when one tree goes across another: so a spiritual cross most often has its origin from here, that human will is opposed to God’s will. And he who agrees with God’s will avoids many crosses, or hardly feels their burden.
He finds paradise on earth, insofar as it can be found – and “it becomes his place in peace, and his dwelling in Sion”(4); that is, as Mount Sion is elevated above the storms and intricacies of the world.
What, then, wretched man,” cries Augustine the Saint, “do you seek apart from God? Strive to find God, unite yourself with Him, assimilate His holy will, and you will be happy both in this life and in that. Don’t believe this? – Look at the Saints; their lives were a string of hardships and sufferings, and yet freedom never disappeared from their souls, nor joy from their hearts.
Hence it is beautifully said by St. Catherine of Siena that the righteous are like Christ the Lord; for as He, although He was a man of sorrows, was never without serenity and joy in His soul, so also the Saints, despite persecution and suffering, never lose that blessedness which is contained in union with the will of God; – for in them always dwells the joy and holy delight which flows from the fulfillment of the will of God. In a word, “blessed is he who does the will of God and in all things submits to its wisest judgments. It is a life in which God blesses everything and does everything that man desires, because man also does what God demands, – a life truly full of sweetness and joy, which is like a foretaste of eternal life, like heaven beyond heaven “(5).
O if people understood what is the condition of their happiness, then even in the robe of a beggar they would feel happy. The learned and pious John Tauler prayed earnestly for a long time, eight years, that God would send him a master proficient in spiritual life. One morning he hears an inner voice: Go to the church and you will find the one you are looking for. Tauler hurried immediately to the church and spotted a beggar in rags at the gate. “Good morning friend,” he says to him. “I do not recall, my master,” replied the beggar, “that I have ever had a bad day.” “Then good luck to you.” “Thank you for your good wishes, but I have never been unhappy,” said the beggar. “God bless you, my dear, but speak, please, a little more clearly, for I do not understand you.” “Very gladly,” replied the beggar, “you told me first of all: good morning, and I replied that I have never had a bad day; – and rightly so, ho when I suffer hunger, I praise God , – when I am cold, I praise God, – when the sun shines, or the storm howls, I praise God, when they give me alms, or drag me out of the door, I always praise God. You further wished me happiness, and I replied that I was never unhappy; – and again rightly so, for I am accustomed to desire only what God desires; hence whatever happens to me, whether pleasant or unpleasant, I accept with joy as a gift bestowed upon me by the hand of God.” “Very well, my friend,” replied Tauler, “but what would happen to your peace if God wanted to condemn you?” “If God were to condemn me, I have two arms to grasp Him; with the left arm – and this is humility – I would embrace His Humanity, with the right arm – and this is love – I would embrace His Deity, and I would hold on so strongly that if He wanted to cast me into hell, He would have to descend with me; and then it would be a hundred times more fortunate for me to be in hell with the Lord than in heaven without Him.” “Where do you go from?” asks the theologian puzzled. “I am going from God.” “Where did you find Him?” “Where , where I lost myself and the creatures.” “Where is God?” “In the hearts of the pure and in people of good will.” “Who are you?” asks Tauler further. “I am the king.” “Where is your kingdom?” “In my soul, where reason rules over lusts, God over reason.” “Where did you acquire such wisdom ?” “From silence, – I was silent in front of people, but for that I often talked with God.” “From where did you acquire such happiness and peace ?” “From the fact that, not being able to find happiness in creatures, I sought it in God and found it”(6).
From this agreement with God’s will flows our merit and glory.
The greater the sacrifice on our part, the greater the reward on God’s part; but can there be a greater sacrifice than the renunciation of one’s will? St. John Chrysostom says that Job’s words, “As it pleased the Lord, so it has been done: blessed be the name of the Lord” (7) – he deserved more than all the alms and good deeds of his life.
God also generously rewards a similar sacrifice, ho gives himself in fullness to a completely surrendered soul and does great things in it, as he assured St. Gertrude: “Whoever wants me to come to him and establish a dwelling in his heart, must give me the key of his own will, but in such a way that he does not take it away any more. And as the more pliable the clay, the more perfect the potter makes a vessel out of it: so the more obedient the human will, the more splendid the Lord creates out of it a vessel of grace: for it is just such souls that He seeks, who would surrender themselves completely to Him, and it is this surrender that He desires to begin His work.
Look at Saul, going to Damascus to exterminate the servants of Christ the Lord, – merely enlightened by His grace, he cried out: “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” – and already the Lord proclaims him a chosen vessel and Apostle of the nations.
See also the Blessed Virgin; barely she said to the Angel: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your fame” (8) – and immediately she becomes the Mother of the Incarnate Word. Likewise, when you, too, give yourself perfectly to God’s will, you will become, as it were, the mother of Christ in your soul.
From here flows our perfection. As we have already seen, the essence of perfection depends on perfect love, and the essence of love depends on perfect agreement with God’s will, and therefore only he is perfect , who perfectly agrees with God’s will. This is assured by the Savior himself, whose entire life what was it if not perfected submission to the will of God.
This is confirmed by the Saints: “Perfection hinges on only one thing, that is, the fulfillment of God’s will, for the Lord says that in order to be perfect, it is necessary to deny oneself, to take up the cross and follow Him; but who better to fulfill this than he who strives always to do God’s will, and never does his own will?
See, then, how little is needed for you to become a saint; – “nothing else than to desire in every opportunity what God wills.”(9) This perfect surrender to the will of God will make everything useful to your soul, everything will serve to sanctify it, that “even from a rock you will extract honey, and oil from a hard rock” (10) ; it will keep you from sin and enrich you with virtues; it will enshroud every moment of your life with a halo of holiness.
This is also the simplest way to union with God; for whoever agrees with God’s will, he, according to St. Bonaventure, rises above creatures and, as if with the flight of an eagle, ascends to the heaven of the Most Holy Trinity, and even becomes one with God. “Deluded, therefore, are the souls who think that union with God consists in raptures, raptures and heavenly consolations, when it depends only on the submission of our will to the will of God – and this submission is perfect when our will, freed from all attachment to earthly things, is guided always and everywhere only by the will of God” (11).
Wanting therefore to perfectly unite with God, surrender your will to Him completely, then you will live His life , or rather He Himself will live in you.
Finally, agreeing with God’s will provides us with heaven.
As the helmsman by means of the rudder directs the ship and, in spite of contrary winds, brings it into port: so God guides the soul, obedient to His will, in spite of temptations and adversities, in life and brings it into heaven. For to buy heaven, – says St. Augustine, – there is no other price but yourself; – give yourself, therefore, and you will receive heaven. And the more perfectly you give yourself, the higher will be the degree of your glory in heaven.
Bp. J.S. Pelczar – Życie duchowne czyli Doskonałość chrześcijańska. T. 2 Kraków 1886
Catholic during the Great Apostasy 
Leave a comment