“Let me find you always watchful, so that I may count on you at all times” (Inner Word).
Our Father wants to place us totally at His service. To do this, He needs us to be attentive, that is, focused on Him. Therefore, it is important that we work on our interior disposition so that we are ready to receive all that our Father wants to entrust to us.
This vigilance comes from the Holy Spirit, who is the love that has been poured into our hearts (cf. Rm 5:5). True love awakens the person and makes them want to serve this love. We can see this at the human level. When one loves a person, one is totally attentive to that person. This is even more true in the relationship with God.
So, if we want to fulfill the initial exhortation, we must live in intimate communion with the Holy Spirit, giving Him permission to call and admonish us whenever we are in danger of falling asleep spiritually and losing ourselves in the things of this world.
Our noble Lord wants to be able to rely on us, yes, to count on us to carry out His plan of love. It is true that our Father does the essential part, and that the best we can do is not to hinder the work of the Holy Spirit; but even this “not hindering the work of the Holy Spirit” requires great vigilance on our part to listen to His admonitions and to remove the obstacles that may stand in our way.
Once we have gone through the first purification, we will be able to cooperate more easily with the Holy Spirit and fulfill the will of God more easily. Then our Father will be able to trust us, and once he has strengthened our heart by rooting it in His, He will be able to really count on us.
Then, when our Father asks: “Whom shall I send?” we will be able to answer: “Here am I! Send me” (Is 6:8).