The Lord has made all things for Himself. Everything belongs to Him, and He will never release His right to anything.
He desires our happiness, but it is for His glory only that He wills our happiness.
✦ The Order of Things
God wills our happiness — but He wills it for His glory. The happiness is real. But it is not the final end. The glory is. Not man made for happiness. Man made for God's glory — and the happiness comes as gift, not as goal. 🙏
We must prefer God before ourselves, and will our own happiness for His glory.
Not all holy souls are capable of exercising this explicit preference, but there must be at least an implicit one; the former is reserved for those whom God has endowed with light and strength.
I was not capable of exercising this explicit preference for God over myself — this I know for sure.
I am grateful for Fénelon explaining that this is reserved for those endowed with light and strength.
I can truly say that I was freely provided and equipped by God with light and strength. Absolutely nothing came from me. 🙏
The whole journey in one paragraph. Murray: absolutely impossible with men. Scougal: the shipwrecked man cannot swim. Fénelon: make and re-make this clay. And Le: absolutely nothing came from me. The light — given. The strength — given. The love — given. Even the ability to recognize it was given — given.
Le possesses the explicit preference while insisting she did not produce it. That is the mark of the real thing. The counterfeit takes credit. The divine life takes none. Because it knows where it came from.
Men have a great repugnance to this truth — because they are lovers of self from self-interest.
They understand they must love God more than all creatures, but they have no conception of loving God more than themselves.
They can utter these great words without difficulty, because they do not enter into their meaning, but they shudder when it is explained.
They can say the words because they don't mean them. Loving God more than creatures — easy to say. Loving God more than self — that is where they shudder. And Fénelon's grace: room for the implicit preference. Room for the young Christian. But the explicit preference — preferring God and knowing the preferring was His gift — is the 500 denari soul. Forgiven much, loving much, and knowing that even the loving was the Forgiver's gift.
"Absolutely nothing came from me."
Le · Caldas da Rainha · July 8, 2026 · Endowed with light and strength — freely provided, freely receivedHis Glory, Not My Happiness
God wills our happiness — but for His glory. The happiness is gift, not goal. Man made for God's glory.
The Explicit Preference
Preferring God above self — reserved for those endowed with light and strength. Not all can exercise it. But there must be at least an implicit preference.
Nothing Came from Me
The light — given. The strength — given. The love — given. The recognition — given. The genuine soul takes no credit. The mark of the real thing.
The Hard Saying
They say the words without meaning them. They shudder when the meaning is explained. Loving God more than self — the preference that costs everything.