469th Meditation
“As far as trust is concerned, it is enough to know one’s weaknesses and tell the Lord that we want to put all our trust in Him. The measure of Divine Providence in us is the trust we place in it. Let us abandon ourselves unreservedly to this holy Providence and remain in its arms like a child in its mother’s womb!” (Letter of St. Francis de Sales to St. Jeanne de Chantal).
It is of infinite importance to our Father that we regain the trust in Him which we lost in Paradise after the fall into sin. St. Francis de Sales – an excellent spiritual master of our holy Church – saw this clearly. We must not worry too much about our own weaknesses, although, on the other hand, we should not overlook them lightly. We must turn to the Father! We are always in danger of being too preoccupied with ourselves, of not raising our eyes to the Lord, and thus remaining closed in on ourselves.
But the saint gives us the right advice: Let us put all our trust in the Father! In this way, we come out of our self-enclosure and we also declare to the Father our love and, even more, our trust in His love.
This is how we understand the phrase, “The measure of Divine Providence in us is the trust we place in it”.
The more we trust our Father – in other words, the more we are convinced of His love, even in the midst of our weaknesses and limitations – the more we allow Divine Providence to act in us as it pleases.
Thus, the words of St. Francis de Sales invite us, through our acts of trust, to open wide the doors for God’s action.