8176. 'And you are to be silent' means that by their own powers they will achieve [absolutely] nothing. This is clear from the meaning of 'being silent' as resting content and, since temptations are the subject, refusing to think or believe that they achieve anything by their own powers, regarding which matter see what has been stated and shown above in 8172, 8175. Even so this does not mean that they should stay their hands and wait for immediate influx; rather they should fight as though they acted from themselves, but nevertheless should acknowledge and believe that they act from the Lord, see 1712, 1937, 1947, 2882, 2883, 2891.

2892. The state of one who leads a good life and who believes that the Lord governs the universe, and that He alone is the source of everything good that flows from love and charity, and of everything true that is a matter of faith, and indeed that He is the source of all life - thus the state of one who believes that 'in Him we live, and move, and have our being' - is such that he can have heavenly freedom conferred on him, and with that freedom peace as well. For he trusts solely in the Lord and has no anxious cares about all else; he is quite sure that all things work for his good, blessedness, and happiness for ever. But one who believes that he governs himself is constantly agitated, being carried along into evil desires, into anxious cares about things of the future, and thus into a vast number of anxieties. And such being his belief, evil desires and false persuasions also cling to him.