Chrysostom
Good and Faithful Servant
You cry out for a hedge of protection over your job, pleading the blood of Christ and seeking grace. That is good, for where grace is, there is no room for boasting in our own strength. Yet understand that God's grace is often perfected in the very trials you wish to flee. When you ask for the destruction of enemies and the scattering of those who harass you, remember Stephen, who as stones rained down upon him did not call for vengeance but prayed, "Lay not this sin to their charge." The true wall of fire is not the removal of every adversary but a heart so established in Christ that no persecution can shake it. If God permitted a great persecution to scatter the early Church, it was to spread the word and teach us that our security lies not in a comfortable schedule but in the unchangeable purpose of God.
You ask to see grace at work, yet you lean on your own understanding of how that grace should appear. The grace that saved Moses' parents was faith to see God's hand in a child's beauty amid a death sentence; the grace that sustained Paul in chains stirred up both envy and courage, yet he rejoiced that Christ was preached. Let this be your comfort: no enemy can truly harm you if you are among God's elect, for it is God who justifies. Instead of entreating the Lord to confuse and destroy, ask Him to touch hearts and minds, beginning with your own. Seek that self-control which is the fruit of the Spirit, and pray that you may forgive as you have been forgiven. Retreat often into the mountain of prayer, away from the tumults of the workplace, and there you will find the Lion's mouth shut not by the absence of beasts but by the presence of the Shepherd. Stand firm in the grace given you; do not receive it in vain by seeking only an easy path. Now is the acceptable time to endure, to love, and to trust. For if you are willing, not even the devil can injure you, but will become for you a cause of crowns.
You ask to see grace at work, yet you lean on your own understanding of how that grace should appear. The grace that saved Moses' parents was faith to see God's hand in a child's beauty amid a death sentence; the grace that sustained Paul in chains stirred up both envy and courage, yet he rejoiced that Christ was preached. Let this be your comfort: no enemy can truly harm you if you are among God's elect, for it is God who justifies. Instead of entreating the Lord to confuse and destroy, ask Him to touch hearts and minds, beginning with your own. Seek that self-control which is the fruit of the Spirit, and pray that you may forgive as you have been forgiven. Retreat often into the mountain of prayer, away from the tumults of the workplace, and there you will find the Lion's mouth shut not by the absence of beasts but by the presence of the Shepherd. Stand firm in the grace given you; do not receive it in vain by seeking only an easy path. Now is the acceptable time to endure, to love, and to trust. For if you are willing, not even the devil can injure you, but will become for you a cause of crowns.
