Find Joy in the Lord! – Father Sergei Chernyak

It’s up to every man whom he will end up with, with God or not. And as the father of a sick child exclaimed in the Gospel: Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief (Mk. 9:24), so we cry: “Lord, help my unbelief!” And God helps. But still, you have the last word on where you go, whom you follow, whether you’ll hold onto the Lord or let Him go.

We’re approaching our last hour, we’re preparing for eternity, and in the last moment, it will be revealed to us how much we trust God, how much we fear death, how much we’re terrified and cowardly; or death is for us just a moment through which we’ll pass and enjoy Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven in fullness of our inner humanity…

Delight thyself in the Lord; and He shall grant thee the requests of thine heart (Ps. 36:4). Delight in the Lord in prayer, in Confession, in Communion, in reading spiritual books, at home, in church, at work, on the street—wherever you are, delight in the Lord. Don’t be afraid! Don’t just worship, don’t just fulfill the commandments, don’t just be a religious person, but delight in it. If you delight in the Lord, you’ll be a different person and you’ll understand what God is for you and what you are for Him. This delight in the Lord is the beginning of love.

A man who delights in God can no longer sin; he cannot and he does not want to lose God: He watches himself carefully and doesn’t allow thoughts of little faith, cowardice, doubt, anxiety, fear… Indeed, a fearful man is unreliable for the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, if we learn to lose ourselves in prayer, in the services, if we learn to open ourselves to God in some way, then everything will be for us as it was for the saints. Then we’ll be able to feel the angelic state and the Kingdom of Heaven, which is within us, and we’ll be able to experience completely different stages of our deification. This is a very important point.

You can read the prayer rule, canons and akathists, but still not understand that in prayer we first connect with God, and only then do we ask for all the rest. First we connect with God and then we thank Him. First we connect with God, and this connection itself gives us happiness and the fullness of being, to which we’re called. This is exactly what the Lord expects of us. This is spoken about in both the Old and New Testaments, and in the traditions of our Church, and in the lives of the saints. This is what the Lord says about it: “Be with Me and I’ll be with you. Love Me with all your heart and soul, because there’s no other way for you to exist, otherwise you’ll spend your whole life in vain.”

Help us, Lord, to know this, to remember this, to open ourselves to You, to dissolve ourselves in You, to delight in You and to doubt nothing.