Patience is also a form of action.
—Auguste Rodin
Category: FAITH
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If a man has a friend and he is absolutely certain that his friend loves him, and if that friend does something to cause him suffering and be troublesome to him, he will be convinced that his friend acts out of love and he will never believe that his friend does it to harm him. How much more ought we to be convinced about God who created us, who drew us out of nothingness to existence and life, and who became a man for our sake and died for us, and who does everything out of love for us?
—Abba Dorotheos of Gaza -
And beware you do not blindly insist that things must work out according to what you consider to be right and good. God sometimes does permit such blind insistence to be followed by the fulfilment of our ardent desires. This always leads to misery and disaster (intended to open our eyes on our folly), and happens particularly often when our desires are founded on wild passions.
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Whether it was an angel or whether it was a demon that had left the purse, we distributed the money. As for you and me, whether what happened in our cases occured on account of an angel or on account of a demon, let us give glory to God, for occurences like these do not profit the soul at all except to purify it. Nevertheless, I give glory to you for having received food from an angel. Yes, it is possible for demons to steal some loaves of bread and bring them to someone, but such loaves will not nourish the body because things that belong to demons stink and if something comes from the demons the soul is confused when it sees it. If, however, it comes from the angels, the soul is not confused but remains steadfast and at peace at that time.
The Life of Evagrius
Coptic Church Review, Volume 21, Number 1, Spring 2000 -
God is answering in four ways: delaying, reversing the request, not answering, or answering immediately.
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“You will always be able to tell your parents or siblings or close friends’ voices even if you can’t see them or they are really far away. If you love someone, you can easily recognize their voice. Can you say the same for Christ? Do you know His voice? You must be able to recognize God’s voice even if you can’t see Him.”
—Fr. Bishoy El Antony