"Trust Him, and even before helping you out of trouble, He will give you the spirit of tranquility, and you will forget about your worry. 'He that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about' [Psalm 32:10]. . ."
Editor's Note: Saint Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894) was one of the most prolific and beloved spiritual writers of 19th-century Russia. His works comprise over twenty volumes. Although he lived the last twenty-eight years of his life as a hermit, his impact on his homeland was immense. His articles appeared in the popular spiritual journals of his time, his books were in great demand, and he personally replied to an average of thirty letters daily. We will be publishing excerpts from Thoughts for Each Day of the Year (Amazon). In it, St. Theophan takes us through the yearly cycle of Gospel and Epistle readings, humbly and reverently offering us brief but powerful daily meditations on the word of God. He also addresses the problems of his day: lack of faith, coldness of heart, trust in the rational mind rather than in the revealed Truth of God - which are problems of our day as well.
Monday, 28th week after Pentecost
Epistle reading: 2 Timothy 2:20-26
Gospel reading: Mark 8:11-21
Relief from Anxiety
When the Lord sailed with His disciples to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, they forgot to take enough bread. Having only one loaf with them, they began to wonder what to do. Perceiving their thoughts, the Lord reminded them how He fed the multitudes of people in the past, convincing them that as long as He is nigh, they would never starve, even if they had no bread at all [Mark 8:19-21].
How much anxiety might a single thought about hazy future cause us at times! And there is only one relief from that anxiety — hope in the Lord, while extra encouragement and strength can be tapped from the past experience of our own and of other people. There is probably no one who has not lived through an unforeseen deliverance from trouble or an unforeseen turn of his fortune for the better at some moment in his life. Encourage yourself by bringing such instances to memory whenever your soul is beset by gloomy thoughts about the future.
God will provide for everything, now just as then. Trust Him, and even before helping you out of trouble, He will give you the spirit of tranquillity, and you will forget about your worry. “He that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about” [Psalm 32:10]. Finding such examples in the Holy Scriptures, in the Lives of Saints, in your own life, and in the lives of your friends, will clearly show you that “the Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him” [Psalm 145:18], and fears for the future will not trouble your soul any longer.