In addition, there is another reason: only through such trials can a person show that he is faithful to God. It is easy to be faithful to God when He gives His help and Grace, when there is peace, light and joy in the soul. But when calamities and darkness come upon the soul, then it is not easy at all. But it is at such moments that the deep essence of the soul is revealed: whether it is faithful to God or not. In fact, this is what the devil said to God about Job: "Is he faithful to Thee for nothing?" Is he not faithful because You Yourself have protected him in everything, given him peace and prosperity? But try to take away Your blessings from him, and then we will see if he remains faithful to You. And so the Lord allows the devil to test Job, so that his faithfulness and courage would become manifest to all.

The path of Job in this world is followed by all saints and righteous without exception. And we are all called to follow this path – the path of remaining faithful to God in any struggle and in any trial. The Prophet David says that the eyes of the Lord are on the faithful of the earth and that it is they who He will glorify and seat next to Him. But faithfulness is manifested only in struggle, and therefore Christians are allowed to struggle and trials.

In the life of St. Anthony the Great it is described how after one of the most terrible and terrible demonic battles, when all the forces of hell fell upon him and all the forces of hell tormented him, the ascetic saw Christ and, seeing Him, cried out: Where were You, Lord? Why didn't You come to end my great sufferings in the beginning? And Christ answered him: I was here, but I waited, desiring to see your courage and your podvig.

Such a grievous battle as befell Saints Job and Anthony is seldom allowed by God. Only great souls can bear great trials, but most people are not capable of this. We bear incomparably fewer trials, according to our strength. However, even they are not easy for us to endure. When the Grace of God leaves us for a long time and the darkness of despondency finds us, then we must firmly remember that only one means can help us – to regain the Grace of God again. What are the ways to get it back?

We have several such ways, and perhaps the strongest of them is the virtue of mercy. This remedy works almost flawlessly and almost always returns Grace – even in the most severe cases. Mercy is the work of helping other suffering people, who often have an incomparably harder time than we do. In the words of St. Cyprian of Carthage, works of mercy have such great power that, like Baptism, they return to us again Grace and mercy from God. And there are many examples when this remedy literally regenerated people, raised them from the abyss of despair and literally saved them from suicide and hell.

Hieromartyr Kronid of Radonezh in his book "Trinity Flowers" tells the story of the famous Russian philanthropist Innokenty Mikhailovich Sibiryakov, who lived at the end of the XIX century. Sibiryakov was the son of the richest Irkutsk gold miners, he lost his parents early and in his youth, surrounded by bad people, he embarked on the path of vice and sin. And then one day, in the child of a dissolute life, he was attacked by an inexplicable mortal anguish, which was so strong that he decided to shoot himself. Before his death, he went to the bank to make the final dispositions about his vast fortune. When he got into the carriage, a woman who was emaciated from hunger came up to him with a child in her arms and asked for help. Sibiryakov felt sorry for her, and he gave her all his cash. However, when he got into the carriage, he thought that this money would be enough for her, perhaps, for six months, and decided to help her more - to provide for her for life. When he made this decision, suddenly something bright appeared in his heart, which had hitherto been tormented by mortal anguish—some feeling like pity, compassion, or even joy. Telling the woman to wait for him, Sibiryakov went to one of the St. Petersburg banks.

Passing by the Kazan Cathedral and remembering how he once went here with his late mother, Sibiryakov unexpectedly ordered to stop and, entering the temple, approached the miraculous Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. Tears poured from his eyes, repentance came to his soul, and he suddenly realized how empty, vicious and filthy his life was before God. There, in the Kazan Cathedral, a real revolution took place with Sibiryakov. He did not go to the bank to finish his business. Thoughts of suicide disappeared without a trace. After that, his life took a completely different direction, and in the end, having renounced the world and taken monastic vows, he withdrew to the Holy Mount Athos, where he died as a schema-monk. When his bones were found three years after his death, they were a pure amber-pink color. As you know, this is considered on Athos to be a sure sign that a person has pleased God and is glorified by Him in heaven.