Written by St. John of Ávila and taken from My Burden Is Light, this stirring reflection shows that true peace comes from rejecting our own opinions and trusting entirely in God’s will. It calls us to abandon self-reliance, submit to divine wisdom, and embrace holy obedience as the surest path to holiness and freedom.
Trust God Over Yourself
“What does living in peace consist in?” In believing that God takes care of what will fulfill you; in your being ruled by His opinion; in believing that that is the best, although it may not seem so to your own judgment. Take away, take away, then, that opinion; rip yourself away from what you know, from what you want, from what seems to you like it would fulfill you.
“And if I separate myself from my opinion, in whom will I remain, Father? Whom will I follow?” Draw near to the knowledge of God. Be ruled by the opinion of God alone. Deny yourself and follow Christ. Woe is you, for, when you act according to God’s opinion, it weighs on you, and when you do what you want, it pleases you! When you think that the will of God is to be done, you are afraid; and when what your own [will] wants, you rejoice. It should be the opposite.
You Do Not Know What Fulfills You
Is it not better for you to trust in God than in yourself? Is it not better to draw near to God than to draw near yourself? Cast all this away. Woe is you, for you don’t know what fulfills you. You will never come to Christ if you don’t cast away that opinion of yours and if you act like a beast, whose eyes snare it to draw it to drink. I have become a beast of burden before You. The prophet David said: “Lord, what a beast am I, for I do not know what fulfills me: What more is a beast than he who knows nothing?”
Ask it of a man: say, “Are you fulfilled by getting married?”
“I don’t know; God knows.”
“Is being a friar or nun something that fulfills you?”
“I don’t know; God knows.”
“Does it seem good to you to go out in the morning to handle such or such an affair in the plaza?”
“I don’t know.”
The Counsel of God Alone
He says “no” to everything. Then what more is a beast than he who knows nothing, and what more is knowing than having God with you? And I am always with you, says God. This is the good wisdom of those whom God is with, who are guided by the counsel and opinion of God; and little is the knowledge of those who want to be guided by their own head and opinion. God reproaches this greatly, and He promises to punish it.
Let us deny, brother, our own knowledge, and let us hang onto the knowledge of God. Guide, Lord, and we will follow You; Your counsel is worth more than mine, although it seems tough to me; Your erring, if it were so that You could err, Lord, is worth more than my being right. Take away that opinion, cut off that confidence you have in your own knowledge.
Saint Francis: An Example of Holy Submission
How well did Saint Francis do this! He was so an enemy of following his own opinion that he did not want to follow his own opinion even unto wandering in the street. Going along once, walking, he said to his companion: “Brother, by your life, may you command me on this road, and I will obey you and serve you, and don’t do anything else except rule me and tell me what I have to do.”
A great good is it to have denied your own will, to be subject, and to have another command you, and for you to obey him! How many times has it happened to you that, by looking out a window, you fell into a sin, because you looked out in order to follow your own opinion? How many other times [did you fall] into other sins, by your being ruled by your own head?
The Burden of Command vs. The Freedom of Obedience
Certain it is that, if the danger of commanding and the security of obeying is considered, we would flee heaven and earth in order to not command. How I am labored and pained over thinking if I’ve counseled you well, and how careless and happy is the other one, saying: “That one commanded me; I know no more!”
The nun says: “God does not command me to obey myself, but rather my abbess; by this, I am fulfilled; I don’t know anything; she looks to what she commands, for God will demand it of her, if it is not good; I am obliged to do no more than obey.”
Give Thanks for Holy Obedience
Ladies, you have a great good in being subjects, in God’s having given you someone who commands you, and whom you should obey, and by whose opinion you should be ruled, instead of by your own. Know how to thank Him; if not, God will chastise you, as He is wont to do to those who fail to recognize the mercies they receive from Him. He who does not know the good he has, what does he deserve? That it be taken from him.
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This article is taken from a chapter in My Burden Is Light by John of Ávila which is available from TAN Books.
