If a person truly and utterly wants something, even against his own best interests, the Lord will patiently and at length through various people and new circumstances plant obstacles and try to dissuade the person from the needless and fatal goal. But when we are stubbornly implacable in our desires, then God steps aside and lets our blind and powerless freedom take its course.

Everyday Saints and Other Stories
Archimandrite Tikhon Shevkunov