Our Efforts Are Useless Without God’s Help

And this shows clearly that God’s grace and mercy always work in us what is good. When it forsakes us, the worker’s efforts are useless, and however earnestly a man may strive, he cannot regain his former condition without his help. This saying is constantly fulfilled in our case: it is “not of the one who wills, nor of the one who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” And this grace, on the other hand, sometimes does not refuse to visit even the careless and indifferent with that holy inspiration you spoke of, and with an abundance of spiritual thoughts. It inspires the unworthy, rouses the sleepers, and enlightens those blinded by ignorance. It mercifully reproves and chastens us, pouring itself out in our hearts, so that we may be stirred by the heartfelt sorrow he awakens and driven to rise from the sleep of laziness. Finally, at his sudden visitation we are often filled with sweet fragrances beyond anything human skill could blend, so that the soul is carried away with these delights and caught up, as it were, into an ecstasy of spirit, and forgets that it is still in the flesh. [a]