Seeking and Knowing God's Will
I. GOD’S PLAN
Throughout His life, Jesus held on to the will of God His Father. The Father’s will was the guideline of His life. Whatever He did was according to and in harmony with the Father’s will: “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me” (Jn 4:34). His coming into the world had but one purpose, that is, to do the Father’s will: “You took no pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices….Then I said…God here am I! I am coming to obey your will” (Heb 10:5-7). He came down from heaven for one purpose only: the Father’s will. “I have come from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of the one who sent me” (Jn 6:38). That is why He was able to do all the great things the Father entrusted to Him. The Father too was well pleased in Him: “This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him” (Mk 9:7). And before this, when He was baptised in the river Jordan, the Father gives this witness: “You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you” (Mk 1”11).
This is why for us too the Father’s will is the highest norm of our life. There is nothing holier, nothing nobler and truer than God’s will. God’s will is the base of our salvation and of our happiness. God’s will is also the base of our success. God’s will is the highest wisdom.
What God wills is what is best for us because God only wills what is best for us. From the beginning, God has had a beautiful plan for us. Because He loves us, whatever He plans for us is good. As Jeremiah says, “I know the plans I have in mind for you – it is Yahweh who speaks –plans for peace, not disaster, reserving a future full of hope for you” (Jer 29:11).
This is why when God created this universe, He created all things good. Every time He finished creating something, God looked upon His creation and saw that “it was good” (Gn 1:31). And when He finished creating humankind, the Bible says that He saw “that all he had made…was very good” (Gn 1:31). This is why from the beginning God’s plan for us was all beautiful and good. He created paradise for humankind, so that humankind might live in it happily (Gn 2: 8-15). The relationship between God and human beings was very intimate then. This is described thus: “God [was] walking in the garden in the cool of the evening” (Gn 3:8).This is God’s plan for us, namely, that we should be happy in this world and the world to come.
II. KNOWING GOD’S WILL
For us to live happily we must live according to God’s will. If our life is in harmony with His will, we shall be happy. If our life conflicts with His will, our life will be long suffering. It is, therefore, most important to live according to God’s will.
We can know God’s will from various sources:
II.1. The Word of God
The first and main source for knowing God’s will is God’s own word. Through His word God reveals His plan and His will, so that by following the word of God, we shall come to know perfectly God’s will. For instance, when God says: “I love you with an eternal love”, we must truly believe that this is true, that God does love us. When He commands us to entrust all our worries to Him, this means that in this case He will protect us and free us. The word of God reveals to us the whole of His will and plan together with His own thoughts. Thus by studying the word of God we shall know God’s own will. We meet this word of God in the Bible. Because people often ignore the word of God, their life is filled with all kinds of confusion.
II.2. The Teaching of the Church
The teaching of the Church also reveals God’s will, because the Church was built by Jesus Himself and is inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Church was built precisely to teach and guide the disciples and to interpret the word of God authentically, that is correctly and truly. Thus, by accepting the teaching of the Church we accept the Lord’s own teaching. By following its guidance, we accept God’s own guidance: “Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me” (Lk 10:16).
II.3. State in Life
Your state in life and the duties that flow from that are an apportionment of God’s will. God wills that husband and wife love each other with their whole heart and faithfully. He wills that children should love and respect their parents and that parents educate their children in a Christian way. God wills that the head of a family be responsible for the welfare of the family and live in the manner of a head of family and not as a monk. For instance, he must not neglect his family with the excuse that he is serving God, or a wife does not serve her husband and children because she wants to serve God. Does this mean that they cannot serve God? They can and they must, but in a manner fitting their status and their situation in life.
Thus, if you have different kinds of responsibilities, these may be in conflict. For instance, if you follow different activities at the same time, you may become confused as to how to divide your time. Hence you must have the courage to establish priorities in your life. You must give precedence to what requires precedence and thus avoid confusion. Do not seek a 25th hour but establish priorities.
II.4. External Signs
Events or incidents that you have to face and experience may become signs of God’s will for you. Be aware of what goes on around you and pray that you may be given the wisdom to understand what God is saying to you through these events. We know that no event takes place without the knowledge of God. We also believe that God can arrange events and incidents such that His will becomes clear through them. For instance, where you live or in your parish there is a prayer group or community, or some other spiritual activity that can build up the faith of the people, this means that God is calling you to support and not to oppose such initiatives. If your neighbour is in serious difficulty, if your friend is experiencing some crisis, this means that God is asking you to do something for them. If you feel your energies overtaxed, confused and easily upset by some new activity, this may be a sign that you need to rethink the new activity that you accepted or to review your decision.
These are the external signs that God uses to talk to you. Sometimes God’s will is so clear, through external signs and events accompanied by an interior understanding, that there is no more possible doubt. However, often these are not clear so that it is only possible to know if you follow God’s interior guidance, which He does through your interior drives and movements.
II.5. Interior Signs
These interior signs are written within us by the Holy Spirit. These signs may be interior words, visions, interior feelings, tendencies or inner understanding, which come from the Holy Spirit who is present in us. Through these signs the Spirit wants to show us the direction we should take on the journey of life.
Interior words and visions are indeed special and rare ways of guidance. For further explanation, read my book: The Spiritual Aspirations of John of the Cross.
Here I would just like to examine a more general guidance by means of interior feelings, tendencies or inner understanding. Knowing these interior signs and interpreting exterior signs is an obligation and must be carried out often. We need to do this especially when we face certain situations:
1. When you have to choose between two matters one good and the other better, as for instance, do I follow certain routine activities or stay at home with the family; do I accept an offer to do a seminar or a particular service; do I want to get married or enter the seminary or a monastery, or do I want to stay single for God in the midst of the world?
2. When you face a new situation, a new opportunity or choice, such as an offer of a new job, an offer of marriage, an offer to serve in some particular place, and so on.
III. THE PROCESS OF KNOWING GOD’S WILL
The process of knowing God’s will is sometimes also referred to as ‘spiritual discernment’. For you to know God’s will through the interior signs, here are some practical guidelines:
1. First, prepare your inner self in prayer so that you may come to a willingness to do God’s will, whatever that may be, because you are convinced that this is what is best for you. When you are willing and ready to take the decision to act according to God’s will, then you are ready for the nest step.
2. Seek sufficient information concerning the situation, event or matter and those involved in your choice. Study and weigh all the pros and cons. Seek also God’s guiding external signs. While you study all this pay attention also to the three sources of guidance from God mentioned above. Whatever is contrary to the Bible, the teaching of the Church and your state in life must be considered a temptation.
3. Take your problem with all its pros and cons to Jesus in prayer. Speak to Jesus as to a friend who loves you. Tell Him all your aspirations and worries. Ask Him what He thinks about the matter in hand and ask Him to help you make the right decision. After praying to God for a while in this way, try to remain silent in His presence. You may praise Him or pray in tongues or just remain silent in His presence.
4. Read your interior signs. When you speak to God and more so when you remain silent in His presence, the Spirit of God will be working within you. If the decision or action that you wish to take is in accordance with God’s will, the Holy Spirit will produce in you peace, light, love, interior attraction and consolation. Through these positive signs the Spirit will be saying: “Yes, this is what I want”.
If the decision or action you are about to take is not in accordance with God’s plan, you will experience negative signs such as disquiet, fear, darkness, reluctance and the feeling that God is absent. Through these signs the Spirit wants to say: “No, this is not what I want”.
In making an important decision, such as deciding one’s vocation in life or a great change in life, you may look at it from two sides. For instance, to decide on your vocation, pray first as if you were to become a religious and look at your reaction. Then pray as though you were to form a family and look at your reaction. These two matters will support your conclusion. For instance, if when you pray to enter a monastery you experience positive signs, while when you pray for forming a family you experience negative signs, it is clear that God is calling you to a religious life. If on the contrary when you pray to enter religious life you feel nervous and experience negative signs, while when you pray for forming a family you experience positive signs, then it is clear that you are called to married life. Similarly, you can pray and ask for God’s guidance whether you must move to another city or not, and in other matters that you have to decide.
5. Often, these interior signs are made obscure and vague by feelings of joy or sadness, by prejudices, fear, ambition, an unfulfilled desire, social pressure and temptations. That is why I said above that you must first pray to surrender to God’s will so as to recognise these signs. Then also we must be constant in prayer, so that these signs may become clearer. The Holy Spirit will work all the time, and our thoughts and feelings will change according to situations. The more persevering you are in prayer, the more the Holy Spirit will help you to see things clearly.
6. In facing important decisions, for instance when you want to choose your vocation in life, repeat your prayer for a few days, even some weeks if necessary. During that time it is very important that you write and note what you experience and feel, both positive and negative, so that later you may use these notes to know God’s guidance. If your experience points in one direction consistently, you may peacefully draw the conclusion that that is the way God wants you to go. On the contrary, if your experience is confused, inconsistent, this is a sign that you are not ready to take that spiritual step, because perhaps your heart is not ready to do God’s will. If so, keep praying until you are ready and willing to do God’s will, whatever it may be.
7. Before making an important decision it would be good if you consulted your leader, your guide or someone else who has greater experience. In certain cases, if there is an inner urge, you may pray for a sign to strengthen the interior signs but not so as to replace the said decision making process, for instance you may pray: ‘Lord, if it truly be your will that I change employment, remove the obstacles in my way’
IV. KNOWING GOD’S WILL IN COMMUNITY
This is an endeavour as children of God to know God’s will and plan for the members of a community individually and together. The community gathers in God’s name and in the Lord’s Spirit, in a spirit of mutual love and harmony, in humility and openness to do God’s will, whatever that might be, because they are convinced that God wills only what is best for us and believe in Him.
In the process of taking community decisions we need to look out for some dangers:
1. taking sides with a group or gang, division, rivalry, suspicion.
2. looking at the interests of the group and becoming blind to the interests of the Church or of the wider public interest.
3. human ambition, manipulation and private agendas, matters that render people insen-sitive to the whisperings of the Spirit.
To take a spiritual, objective and good decision, each person has to set aside the obstacles mentioned above. They have to be really honest and willing to seek God’s will. God’s will must really become each person’s priority. Thus such a community decision is only possible if there is true fraternity and an attitude of mutual respect and trust in the community.
The steps that the group/community has to follow are fundamentally the same as the ones above:
1. Pray until each person is really ready to accept God’s will, whatever that might be.
2. Seek important and precise information concerning the subject matter. Explain and discuss everything and if necessary ask for expert opinion in the field.
3. Listen to God in silent prayer and recognise the interior signs that point to God’s will.
4. Then gather together and speak in turns, each expressing what according to him/her is God’s will. If all the members or a large majority are sufficiently mature spiritually, then there will be a consensus or quasi consensus, that is, almost a complete consensus.
If no consensus is reached, this may mean that the group needs further information and mature discussion, because perhaps there is an important element that has been left out. Perhaps too that the group needs deeper conversion, or longer time to pray and listen to the Spirit. This process may be repeated until such time as a consensus is reached.
Copyrighted @ Holy Trinity Community, Indonesia
Throughout His life, Jesus held on to the will of God His Father. The Father’s will was the guideline of His life. Whatever He did was according to and in harmony with the Father’s will: “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me” (Jn 4:34). His coming into the world had but one purpose, that is, to do the Father’s will: “You took no pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices….Then I said…God here am I! I am coming to obey your will” (Heb 10:5-7). He came down from heaven for one purpose only: the Father’s will. “I have come from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of the one who sent me” (Jn 6:38). That is why He was able to do all the great things the Father entrusted to Him. The Father too was well pleased in Him: “This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him” (Mk 9:7). And before this, when He was baptised in the river Jordan, the Father gives this witness: “You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you” (Mk 1”11).
This is why for us too the Father’s will is the highest norm of our life. There is nothing holier, nothing nobler and truer than God’s will. God’s will is the base of our salvation and of our happiness. God’s will is also the base of our success. God’s will is the highest wisdom.
What God wills is what is best for us because God only wills what is best for us. From the beginning, God has had a beautiful plan for us. Because He loves us, whatever He plans for us is good. As Jeremiah says, “I know the plans I have in mind for you – it is Yahweh who speaks –plans for peace, not disaster, reserving a future full of hope for you” (Jer 29:11).
This is why when God created this universe, He created all things good. Every time He finished creating something, God looked upon His creation and saw that “it was good” (Gn 1:31). And when He finished creating humankind, the Bible says that He saw “that all he had made…was very good” (Gn 1:31). This is why from the beginning God’s plan for us was all beautiful and good. He created paradise for humankind, so that humankind might live in it happily (Gn 2: 8-15). The relationship between God and human beings was very intimate then. This is described thus: “God [was] walking in the garden in the cool of the evening” (Gn 3:8).This is God’s plan for us, namely, that we should be happy in this world and the world to come.
II. KNOWING GOD’S WILL
For us to live happily we must live according to God’s will. If our life is in harmony with His will, we shall be happy. If our life conflicts with His will, our life will be long suffering. It is, therefore, most important to live according to God’s will.
We can know God’s will from various sources:
II.1. The Word of God
The first and main source for knowing God’s will is God’s own word. Through His word God reveals His plan and His will, so that by following the word of God, we shall come to know perfectly God’s will. For instance, when God says: “I love you with an eternal love”, we must truly believe that this is true, that God does love us. When He commands us to entrust all our worries to Him, this means that in this case He will protect us and free us. The word of God reveals to us the whole of His will and plan together with His own thoughts. Thus by studying the word of God we shall know God’s own will. We meet this word of God in the Bible. Because people often ignore the word of God, their life is filled with all kinds of confusion.
II.2. The Teaching of the Church
The teaching of the Church also reveals God’s will, because the Church was built by Jesus Himself and is inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Church was built precisely to teach and guide the disciples and to interpret the word of God authentically, that is correctly and truly. Thus, by accepting the teaching of the Church we accept the Lord’s own teaching. By following its guidance, we accept God’s own guidance: “Anyone who listens to you listens to me; anyone who rejects you rejects me” (Lk 10:16).
II.3. State in Life
Your state in life and the duties that flow from that are an apportionment of God’s will. God wills that husband and wife love each other with their whole heart and faithfully. He wills that children should love and respect their parents and that parents educate their children in a Christian way. God wills that the head of a family be responsible for the welfare of the family and live in the manner of a head of family and not as a monk. For instance, he must not neglect his family with the excuse that he is serving God, or a wife does not serve her husband and children because she wants to serve God. Does this mean that they cannot serve God? They can and they must, but in a manner fitting their status and their situation in life.
Thus, if you have different kinds of responsibilities, these may be in conflict. For instance, if you follow different activities at the same time, you may become confused as to how to divide your time. Hence you must have the courage to establish priorities in your life. You must give precedence to what requires precedence and thus avoid confusion. Do not seek a 25th hour but establish priorities.
II.4. External Signs
Events or incidents that you have to face and experience may become signs of God’s will for you. Be aware of what goes on around you and pray that you may be given the wisdom to understand what God is saying to you through these events. We know that no event takes place without the knowledge of God. We also believe that God can arrange events and incidents such that His will becomes clear through them. For instance, where you live or in your parish there is a prayer group or community, or some other spiritual activity that can build up the faith of the people, this means that God is calling you to support and not to oppose such initiatives. If your neighbour is in serious difficulty, if your friend is experiencing some crisis, this means that God is asking you to do something for them. If you feel your energies overtaxed, confused and easily upset by some new activity, this may be a sign that you need to rethink the new activity that you accepted or to review your decision.
These are the external signs that God uses to talk to you. Sometimes God’s will is so clear, through external signs and events accompanied by an interior understanding, that there is no more possible doubt. However, often these are not clear so that it is only possible to know if you follow God’s interior guidance, which He does through your interior drives and movements.
II.5. Interior Signs
These interior signs are written within us by the Holy Spirit. These signs may be interior words, visions, interior feelings, tendencies or inner understanding, which come from the Holy Spirit who is present in us. Through these signs the Spirit wants to show us the direction we should take on the journey of life.
Interior words and visions are indeed special and rare ways of guidance. For further explanation, read my book: The Spiritual Aspirations of John of the Cross.
Here I would just like to examine a more general guidance by means of interior feelings, tendencies or inner understanding. Knowing these interior signs and interpreting exterior signs is an obligation and must be carried out often. We need to do this especially when we face certain situations:
1. When you have to choose between two matters one good and the other better, as for instance, do I follow certain routine activities or stay at home with the family; do I accept an offer to do a seminar or a particular service; do I want to get married or enter the seminary or a monastery, or do I want to stay single for God in the midst of the world?
2. When you face a new situation, a new opportunity or choice, such as an offer of a new job, an offer of marriage, an offer to serve in some particular place, and so on.
III. THE PROCESS OF KNOWING GOD’S WILL
The process of knowing God’s will is sometimes also referred to as ‘spiritual discernment’. For you to know God’s will through the interior signs, here are some practical guidelines:
1. First, prepare your inner self in prayer so that you may come to a willingness to do God’s will, whatever that may be, because you are convinced that this is what is best for you. When you are willing and ready to take the decision to act according to God’s will, then you are ready for the nest step.
2. Seek sufficient information concerning the situation, event or matter and those involved in your choice. Study and weigh all the pros and cons. Seek also God’s guiding external signs. While you study all this pay attention also to the three sources of guidance from God mentioned above. Whatever is contrary to the Bible, the teaching of the Church and your state in life must be considered a temptation.
3. Take your problem with all its pros and cons to Jesus in prayer. Speak to Jesus as to a friend who loves you. Tell Him all your aspirations and worries. Ask Him what He thinks about the matter in hand and ask Him to help you make the right decision. After praying to God for a while in this way, try to remain silent in His presence. You may praise Him or pray in tongues or just remain silent in His presence.
4. Read your interior signs. When you speak to God and more so when you remain silent in His presence, the Spirit of God will be working within you. If the decision or action that you wish to take is in accordance with God’s will, the Holy Spirit will produce in you peace, light, love, interior attraction and consolation. Through these positive signs the Spirit will be saying: “Yes, this is what I want”.
If the decision or action you are about to take is not in accordance with God’s plan, you will experience negative signs such as disquiet, fear, darkness, reluctance and the feeling that God is absent. Through these signs the Spirit wants to say: “No, this is not what I want”.
In making an important decision, such as deciding one’s vocation in life or a great change in life, you may look at it from two sides. For instance, to decide on your vocation, pray first as if you were to become a religious and look at your reaction. Then pray as though you were to form a family and look at your reaction. These two matters will support your conclusion. For instance, if when you pray to enter a monastery you experience positive signs, while when you pray for forming a family you experience negative signs, it is clear that God is calling you to a religious life. If on the contrary when you pray to enter religious life you feel nervous and experience negative signs, while when you pray for forming a family you experience positive signs, then it is clear that you are called to married life. Similarly, you can pray and ask for God’s guidance whether you must move to another city or not, and in other matters that you have to decide.
5. Often, these interior signs are made obscure and vague by feelings of joy or sadness, by prejudices, fear, ambition, an unfulfilled desire, social pressure and temptations. That is why I said above that you must first pray to surrender to God’s will so as to recognise these signs. Then also we must be constant in prayer, so that these signs may become clearer. The Holy Spirit will work all the time, and our thoughts and feelings will change according to situations. The more persevering you are in prayer, the more the Holy Spirit will help you to see things clearly.
6. In facing important decisions, for instance when you want to choose your vocation in life, repeat your prayer for a few days, even some weeks if necessary. During that time it is very important that you write and note what you experience and feel, both positive and negative, so that later you may use these notes to know God’s guidance. If your experience points in one direction consistently, you may peacefully draw the conclusion that that is the way God wants you to go. On the contrary, if your experience is confused, inconsistent, this is a sign that you are not ready to take that spiritual step, because perhaps your heart is not ready to do God’s will. If so, keep praying until you are ready and willing to do God’s will, whatever it may be.
7. Before making an important decision it would be good if you consulted your leader, your guide or someone else who has greater experience. In certain cases, if there is an inner urge, you may pray for a sign to strengthen the interior signs but not so as to replace the said decision making process, for instance you may pray: ‘Lord, if it truly be your will that I change employment, remove the obstacles in my way’
IV. KNOWING GOD’S WILL IN COMMUNITY
This is an endeavour as children of God to know God’s will and plan for the members of a community individually and together. The community gathers in God’s name and in the Lord’s Spirit, in a spirit of mutual love and harmony, in humility and openness to do God’s will, whatever that might be, because they are convinced that God wills only what is best for us and believe in Him.
In the process of taking community decisions we need to look out for some dangers:
1. taking sides with a group or gang, division, rivalry, suspicion.
2. looking at the interests of the group and becoming blind to the interests of the Church or of the wider public interest.
3. human ambition, manipulation and private agendas, matters that render people insen-sitive to the whisperings of the Spirit.
To take a spiritual, objective and good decision, each person has to set aside the obstacles mentioned above. They have to be really honest and willing to seek God’s will. God’s will must really become each person’s priority. Thus such a community decision is only possible if there is true fraternity and an attitude of mutual respect and trust in the community.
The steps that the group/community has to follow are fundamentally the same as the ones above:
1. Pray until each person is really ready to accept God’s will, whatever that might be.
2. Seek important and precise information concerning the subject matter. Explain and discuss everything and if necessary ask for expert opinion in the field.
3. Listen to God in silent prayer and recognise the interior signs that point to God’s will.
4. Then gather together and speak in turns, each expressing what according to him/her is God’s will. If all the members or a large majority are sufficiently mature spiritually, then there will be a consensus or quasi consensus, that is, almost a complete consensus.
If no consensus is reached, this may mean that the group needs further information and mature discussion, because perhaps there is an important element that has been left out. Perhaps too that the group needs deeper conversion, or longer time to pray and listen to the Spirit. This process may be repeated until such time as a consensus is reached.
Copyrighted @ Holy Trinity Community, Indonesia