“When we renounce everything, the Lord takes care of everything and directs everything. If, on the other hand, we keep something for ourselves because we don’t want to entrust it to Him, He leaves us to it, as if to say, ‘If you think you’re smart enough to do it without me, then do it on your own! You will see how far you get!'” (St. Francis de Sales).
It certainly happens as our beloved St. Francis de Sales wants us to understand. Our Father invites us to follow in His steps, to understand them and to apply them wisely in our lives. In other words, nothing should stand in the way of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. To do this, it is necessary to take the step suggested by St. Francis, which is to entrust everything to God. Of course, this does not mean neglecting one’s own responsibilities, but rather something more profound: in everything and in every situation, we must find our security and guidance in the Father, activating it according to the circumstances.
In the words of St. Francis de Sales, we should not withhold anything from the Lord because we do not want to entrust it to His hands. In fact, this would be a real obstacle to His wise guidance, because in this case our will would not be directed to the Father and we would not trust Him completely. Then our Father’s reaction might be to allow us to have our experiences so that we can learn and become wise.
But it would be better for us to recognize beforehand our inner resistance, our attachment to ourselves, our mistrust of our Father, and consciously entrust everything to Him…
He will know how to reward such a step, because then He will be able to do what is best for us and, on the other hand, He will make us grow in trust in Him and in detachment from ourselves.