222nd Meditation
“As for trust, it is enough to know our own weakness and to tell the Lord that we wish to place all our trust in Him” (St. Francis de Sales).
Again and again we are invited to lay our weaknesses before the Lord. There is no doubt that we must strive to overcome them, as far as possible. But we will repeatedly experience that we fall back into them.
Instead of becoming discouraged and too disappointed in ourselves, St. Francis de Sales advises another way: We must know our weaknesses and turn them into a bridge to strengthen our trust in God. Indeed, it is precisely the awareness of our weaknesses, which we often prefer to hide, being tempted to present an impeccable image to people, that leads us to God. If we deal correctly with our weaknesses, they invite us to place all our trust in God.
In His wisdom, our Father makes use of our limitations, weaknesses and even sins, so that we throw ourselves completely into His arms. Our pride may rebel against all this, because we do not like to be imperfect. But the honest realisation that we are simply not as perfect as we would like to be, leads us to the straight path that the Father has laid out for us.
Let us tell Him that we want to put all our trust in Him! In this way we become detached from ourselves and are able to break out of the self-enclosure of which we are not always aware.
And what about our Father? He will be pleased to see us turning to Him. It will certainly please Him more if we humbly admit our weaknesses, placing our trust in Him, than if we build our security on our own works, taking pleasure in ourselves.