Spiritual Tests

QUESTION: Why is it that one feels abandoned by God, that one finds oneself without assistance from the higher spheres just when one goes through the most difficult times?

ANSWER: This is often so. When you are tested, at first you learn how to attain your goal with the help of spiritual protection. Then this protective influence will step somewhat aside and you are left to yourself, at an equal distance, so to speak, from the divine and the dark forces. You have to stand your ground alone, and act right out of your own will. And then, when you have withstood the test, the dark forces will be periodically allowed to get quite close to you—though divine love is always close by, watching that everything goes well—so that you can stand your ground even better. Only then are you strong enough so that God can fully count on you; only then can you be sure that you have attained mastery over your lower self, over your weaknesses that needed exactly this kind of testing. This is the process. Then, in the so-called favorable periods, you gather new strength for the next period of testing, and can enjoy the fruits of what you have already achieved.

It is up to every human being to avail themselves of the weapons of spiritual law and fight with them. No evil spirit, be it the most powerful, can do anything to you unless you allow it. The moment you fight your lower self, you protect yourself completely. This is what you must do: fight the battle! This is not too much to ask of you. The times when human beings feel alone come only when they are ready to use their will to stand up for themselves without help. Your inner will is always a most important factor, but never will more be expected of you than you are able to accomplish.

QUESTION: But there are many people who suffer so much that they cannot summon up this strength. For instance, someone who has a disease of which he knows he must die. What should such a person do?

ANSWER: It is exactly then that one often experiences that one meets the tests, more so than just living an average life. Those who are marked especially heavily by destiny are often much more capable of meeting their tests by accepting them for what they are and learning from them what is necessary, and by taking up their cross willingly instead of quarreling with their destiny. I have to emphasize again and again that God never gives anyone more than they can, or could, bear and fulfill if only they are willing. You human beings are not able to judge the inner resources of others and what they do with these resources, whether they let them lie fallow or direct them into the wrong channel. Moreover, you always cling to the false belief that death and pain are the worst things that can happen to you. I refer here to physical death, which must certainly not be considered as punishment. Spiritual death is the worst, and it stands at the end of the road of least resistance.

QUESTION: What is spiritual death?

ANSWER: Spiritual death is to give yourself over to the forces of darkness, consciously or unconsciously, that is, to cut yourself off from God’s world. Thus there are not only spirits who are separated from God, but also people. They will not join His ranks because they prefer to walk the road of least resistance and to give in to their weaknesses. Thus they belong to the land of the dead. This is spiritual death. But in no way is this state eternal.