Calling on God to Enlighten "The Empty that Suffers Trouble"

By Archdeacon Habib Guirgus

The soul which is empty from the grace of God is deserted by Him, to be delivered to their evil desires to do what's unpleasing to Him, for those who left Him, will be left; "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions" (Romans 1:26).

"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting" (Romans 1:28).

How sad and awful, O you empty soul of God; you will not have joy of the spirit, or acquire peace forever, but become like Jerusalem when the Lord left it; "He has increased mourning and lamentation in the daughter of Judah... He has destroyed His place of assembly; the Lord has appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion. In His burning indignation He has spurned the king and the priest. The Lord has spurned His altar, He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has given up the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have made a noise in the house of the Lord as on the day of a set feast" (Lamentations 2: 5-7).

If God does not dwell in a soul, the devil will, and will control its evil desires and lusts. The image of the 'evil abominations' will be imprinted on the likeness of "the abominable beasts, and all the idols... portrayed all around on the walls" (Ezekiel 8:9, 10).

"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came'. And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first" (Matthew 12:43-46).

If an owner of a place does not dwell in his house, it will be filled with filth, and dirt, and eventually it will end in destruction and ruin. It is the same like the ground that the peasant does not care for, it will be filled with thorns and thistles; and the ship without a captain, will be hit by the tumultuous waves of the sea, soon to be destructed by the winds. Woe to the soul that God does not attend to it and dwell in it, it becomes a prey for Satan, "For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?" (II Corinthians 6:14, 15).

Woe and misery to the soul, which Jesus does not guide, it resembles the tumultuous sea of sin that is hit by the waves of lusts and desires, and the evil spirits, which will perish its destiny, will control it.

Woe to the soul that Christ does not attend with care, it will not bring forth the good fruits of the spirit. Woe to the soul which Christ does not dwell in it as Lord, it becomes like dry and filled with filth, rotten and sin.

Call on Jesus Christ to come to you as a good vinedresser to plough your soul.

Call on Him to pluck out from you the thorns of sin, and burn the evil in you by the fire of His Holy Spirit. Allow Him to pluck from you the chaff, and let Him purge you thoroughly with His holy winnowing fan, and put His wheat in His holy and glorified barn. Let Him plant the most beautiful roses and most attractive flowers and most gracious spiritual virtues in the garden of yourself, so it may bring forth good fruits.

Being away from God fills us with darkness and distances us from grace.

Sin is darkness and prevents us from seeing God, and separates between the angels and us. It is like the darkness that hit Egypt when no one could see the other, "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things, which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light" (Ephesians 5:11-14).

We have inner eyes and ears other than the senses, so when we are enlightened by God's light, then we can see the divine light and the charming Groom: Jesus Christ, by our inner senses, we hear His sweet words without echo, noise or cry, but in the calmness of the spirit, and relying on God to be delighted by Him internally.

Let His sweet voice comfort you in an unutterable way.