Summary of Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence: The Secret of Peace and Happiness by Fr. Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure and St. Claude de la Colombière

This book from TAN includes both (1) an extract of the book, “The Knowledge and Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ” by Fr. Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure (1588-1657), which was a constant companion during the life of St. John Vianney; (2) extract from the writings of Summary of Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence: The Secret of Peace and Happiness by Fr. Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure and St. Claude de la Colombière (1641-1682).

Here are my summary notes from this great book. I highly recommend you read it yourself. I have compiled my summary notes into different images for God. The authors did not use these images.

#1: God the Doctor

We trust our doctor because we suppose he knows his business. If the doctor orders us to take nasty medicine or undergo a strict diet or a serious operation which involves cutting away part of our body, we gratefully accept it and pay him a large fee because we judge he would not act as he does unless the remedy were necessary, and we must rely on his skill. Well, God is the Doctor! He knows His business. He is the perfect Doctor who, in His perfect wisdom, never makes a mistake. Sometimes, he orders us to take “nasty medicine” or undergo strict diets or serious operations which involve cutting away things from our lives. We should gratefully accept it and pay Him many thanks for all of it. God only does what is strictly necessary for our recovery. He never gives us a “nasty medicine” that is too strong (any tribulation is ordered for our salvation – cf. 1 Cor 10:13). If you refused to accept the Doctor’s medicine, you would be acting against your best interests!

We ought to conform to the will of God in sickness and infirmity and wish for what He sends us, both at the time it comes and for the time it lasts and with all the circumstances attending it, without wishing for one of them to be changed; and at the same time do all that is reasonable in our power to get well again, because God wishes it so. “For my part,” says St. Alphonsus,” I call illness the touchstone of the spirit, for it is then that the true virtue of a man is discovered.” (58)

When you want to complain to this Doctor, kiss His crucified hands that are operating on you. Complain to Him about what He has done for you as you gaze at His wounded and bloody face. Then, your perspective might change!

Job experienced God the Doctor in dramatic ways. He had almost everything “cut away” in a very big operation. He lost his children, possessions, almost everything. And yet, He saw God intimately involved as a doctor. His response? “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). He attributed the surgery to God. We too should attribute everything to God’s perfect work of surgery for our lives and respond, the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

Extra:

• St. Gregory the Great’s analogy of how God uses men as doctors use leeches (click here)
• God’s Providence VS. Euthanasia (click here)

#2: God the Sculptor

We trust that a master sculptor can take a block of marble and transform it into a beautiful image. Every action, from chipping away to hewing and smoothing it out, is aimed at some great image that the artist has in mind. Well, God is like a master sculptor. And we are like blocks of marble. God sees beyond the block of marble and envisions a great work of art. He wants to chip away, hew and smooth it to make us into something beautiful. God is the perfect Sculptor. He will never strike a single blow of the chisel that is not needed for His purposes for us. Every single thing that happens in our life is aimed for our sanctification. Everything that happens to us is coming from God the Artist. He often uses the faults of others to act as chips at the marble to transform us. And all He wants is for us to cooperate. But we often think being blocks of marble is good enough. We forget the glorious image He has for us.

Every day, hundreds of little chips can happen. If we surrender in an attitude of trust to all the little annoyances of the day as God the Artist’s providential chisel work, we would soon be in a position to support the greatest misfortunes that can happen to us, besides at the same time insensibly drawn close to intimacy with the Lord. If we have not yet experienced joy in our suffering, it is becasue we have not yet surrendered fully to the will of God.

Extra:

• Does God will sin? (click here)
• Summary of “Into Your Hands, Father!” by Fr. Stinissen (click here)

#3: God the WeatherMan

In a spirit of conformity to His holy will, we should accustom ourselves for the love of God to put up with all the little daily vexations, such as a word said that wounds our self-esteem, a fly that annoys us, the barking of a dog, knocking into something as we walk along, a small accidental hurt, a light suddenly going out, a rent in our clothes, a pen that won’t write, and especially the weather! The weather is a great way to practice conformity to the will of God. We should accept with filial submission all weather decided by His Providence. Since the weather is a daily reality, this daily habit is a great way to surrender to God’s Providential will and a way to prepare us in advance for more serious difficulties.

Whatever “inconvenience it may cause us, we should repeat with the three youths in the fiery furnace: Cold, heat, snow and ice, lightning and clouds, winds and tempests, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever (Daniel 3:67). The elements themselves are blessing and glorifying God by doing His holy will, and we also should bless and glorify Him in the same way. Besides, even if the weather is inconvenient for us, it may be convenient for someone else. If it prevents us from doing what we want to do, it may be helping another. And even if it were not so, it should be enough for us that it is giving glory to God and that it is God who wishes it to be as it is” (39-40).

Extra:

• St. Francis Borgia’s weather story (click here)
• Trusting in God’s providence with war, famine, pestilience (click here)

#4: God the Father

God is a Father who has shown so many proofs of His love for us. But God proved his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). How can we imagine that He intends to harm us?

“God is a Father of kindness who prefers to put up with our complaints and criticisms rather than stop them by gifts which would be fatal to us” (110). If you, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father…? (Luke 11:13)

Your Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matt 6:32-33). If we seek first God’s kingdom and holiness, if this is the one great aim of our life, He will eventually take care of everything.

“But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work (Jn 4:32-34). Our food is the will of our Heavenly Father.

Prayer has no value unless it is vitalized by conformity to the will of God: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt 7:21).

Extra:

• St. Claude de la Colombière’s Prayer for Happiness in this World (click here)
• Why parents should trust in God’s providence with the size of their families (click here)