Thus, the words of the Apostle are fulfilled by the righteous: "... humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you" (James 4:10). And we still have to fulfill this, we have to continue to follow Christ, following His disciples.

I will repeat once again, our friends: "... Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you." This is our salvation.

"But the Lord does not work miracles suddenly, not at first," St. Chrysostom continues his observation and instruction, "and when the majority begins to lose hope, He will manifest His own strength on the one hand, and on the other hand, He will cultivate patience in those who have endured."

And the same great teacher of the Church, the great patient warns us with you: "Do not lose heart. And remember that only one thing is terrible, there is only one real temptation – it is sin."

Everything passes. "Will you point out to me deceit, or pretense, or deceit, flattery, slander, accusations, exiles... At least for the struggle of the whole universe. Whatever our troubles may be, they are temporary and short-lived, they exist for the mortal body, but they do not harm the cheerful spirit.

Therefore, let nothing accidental disturb you; Do not call one and the other, do not chase after the shadow, for human help is a shadow.

Jesus, whom you serve, call on Jesus without ceasing; one wave of Him — and in an instant everything will change. He suddenly begins to bring everything into silence and give everything an unexpected turn, for God can give us not only those blessings that we expect and hope for, but can do incomparably more and infinitely better."

So this is the reason for our disorder, my dear: by remaining outwardly with Christ, we inwardly forget about Him, we do not follow Him, but lead Him. "Look, Lord, admire my labors, my feats, I will do this and that."

"I"! "I"! "I"! And now the "I" has already shielded Christ from us, but it – our "I" – is exhausted from its own weakness, from powerlessness. And Christ only looks upon us with a certain reproach as at His foolish children, allowing us to fully enjoy our own powerlessness, so that we may come to Him again, this time on our own.

St. John Chrysostom, together with the Apostle James, affirms for us the only way of salvation: "Leave what is yours," "submit to God," and by this obedience to God you will resist the devil. And only then will this terrible dark force run away from us. "Do not be troubled, but always and for all things thank God, glorify, call, pray, prostrate yourself before Him; Do not be alarmed, even though a thousand alarms and confusions arise before you. In troubled circumstances, we cannot warn the Lord, even if everything comes to a terrible death. He alone is able to raise up the fallen, and convert the lost, and correct those who have been offended, and change sinners who have committed thousands of transgressions, and make them righteous. If He creates the bearer to being, to which He never appears, He bestows existence on Him, the easier it is to correct for Him that which is and which has long been."

And all of us, who are weak, but undoubtedly believe in Christ, should not lower our hands and heads, but we should recall and recall in our hearts the words spoken by the Lord to the Apostle Paul: "... My grace is sufficient for you; for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

And, my friends, is it not evident to us now that much of the present has already happened before? Even if we do not see signs and wonders now, we still find deeds that are not inferior to miracles, clear traces of God's Providence, of God's help.

Thus, each of us is destined to do the works of his own personal salvation. Each of us has been given the cross of our personal life, the path has been shown, and only on it will you be useful, it is on it that you will do your work according to the will of God, and not according to your own or, even worse, according to the enemy's will; it is for this that we are given the necessary strength and understanding from God.

This is how the examples of the lives of the righteous of God and their teaching answer our questions. And here is the wish of St. Chrysostom through his letters to every Christian: "... I wish you such consolation that you would not be embarrassed at all, would not cry, but would live cheerfully and peacefully... faith in God and hope in Him."