Salvation is not as we want, but as the Good God wants

Saint Ephrem the Syrian once decided to leave his cell in the desert and go to the city. He wanted to worship the holy relics that were in Edessa, in Syria, and to meet with some pastors of the Church.

Before starting his journey, he prayed thus: “Lord, when I enter the city, send me a man to teach me, so that my first visit to the city may be a cause of benefit and prayer.”

But as he entered the city, the first person he met on the road was a harlot, who began to look at him shamelessly. The saint reproached God, Who had allowed him to meet someone opposite to what he had asked for. Then he turned to the harlot and said to her in a stern voice:

– Are you not at all ashamed to stand and look at me with such insistence?

But she immediately answered him:

– I do what suits me. From the rib of man I was created, and to him I directed my gaze. But you, who were created from dust, you would do well to always have your gaze directed to dust.

Then Saint Ephrem humbled himself in his heart, he felt gratitude, because he understood that God takes care to teach us even through the most unexpected people and through the most unexpected events in the city ... of this world. Because salvation is not as we want, but as the Good God wants.

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