He Leadeth Me: An Extraordinary Testament of Faith

by Walter J. Ciszek

God’s will can be discerned by the fruits of the spirit it brings. That peace of soul and joy of heart are two such signs,

I was dependent only on him in a new and very real way.

It was the grace quite simply to look at our situation from his viewpoint rather than from ours.

we must make ourselves indifferent to all created things.”

we come to expect God to accept our understanding of what his will ought to be and to help us fulfill that, instead of learning to see and accept his will in the real situations in which he places us daily.

responding lovingly to all the situations of the day as truly sent by God—

In how many other ways, too, had I allowed this admixture of self, this luxury of feeling sorry for myself, to cloud my vision and prevent me from seeing the current situation with the eyes of God?

No situation is ever without its worth and purpose in God’s providence.

do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say; but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.”

“Resolve in your heart not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.”

I was tired of second-guessing myself in the silence of solitary confinement after the interrogation sessions, tired of the doubts, fears, and the constant anxiety and strain.

I had spent much time in prayer over the years, I had come to appreciate and thank God for his providence and care of me and of all men, but I had never really abandoned myself to it.

God could be counted on when man could not; he would help even if friends and all else failed. He had proved that up to now. God was a prisoner’s ultimate hope of survival, his last resort. No matter what a man had done, how he had failed God or

his fellow man, God had not yet abandoned him and could be counted on to sustain him again tomorrow.

all of our actions of every day must be accepted as from God and referred back to him, must be done in a way that fulfills his will, for in this way alone is the kingdom of God promoted and spread upon earth.

Each day, and every minute of every day, is given to us by God with that in mind. We for our part can accept and offer back to God every prayer, work, and suffering of the day, no matter how insignificant or unspectacular they may seem to us.

there are no insignificant moments; this is the mystery of divine providence.

Can there be anything more consoling than to look at a burden, or a humiliation, not just as it is in itself but as the will of God entrusted to you at that moment?

How can all of this happen so suddenly, seemingly in so short a period of time? The answer lies in a loss of the virtue of humility, a loss of the vision of life as significant in God’s sight, a loss of the vision that sees all things as coming from the hand of God. Once this vision is lost, then the self very subtly begins to assume greater importance, and God’s will begins to grow less and less important. It’s not our failings or faults or sins of themselves that bring this about; it is a lack of humility. No matter how badly the humble man fails, he will reckon his accounts with God and start over again, for his humility tells him of his total dependence on God.

“My ways are not your ways,” says the Lord, “and my thoughts are not your thoughts; for as far as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways above your ways.”

That’s what humility means—learning to accept disappointments and even defeat as God-sent, learning to persevere and carry on with peace of heart and confidence in God, secure in the knowledge that something worthwhile is being accomplished precisely because God’s will is at work in our life and we are doing our best to accept and follow it.

the Morning Offering is still one of the best practices of prayer—no matter how old-fashioned some may think it. For in it, at the beginning of each day, we accept from God and offer back to him all the prayers, works, and sufferings of the day, and so serve to remind ourselves once again of his providence and his kingdom.

“It is the simple things of this world,” says Saint Paul, “that God has chosen to confound the wise.” Has God really planned it so, or is it just that we in our human wisdom are too proud to accept the utter simplicity of divine wisdom? Why must we always look for more sophisticated, more meaningful, more relevant answers, when he has set the truth before us in so stark and simple a fashion?

“If God is for us, who can stand against us?” Nothing, not even death, can separate us from God. Nothing can touch us that does not come from his hand; nothing can trouble us because all things come from his hand.