Deciphering God's will

Good News ReflectionTuesday of the 16th Week in Ordinary TimeJuly 21, 2009
Today's Readings:Ex 14:21 -- 15:1Ex 15:8-10, 12, 17 (with 1b)Matt 12:46-50http://www.usccb.org/nab/072109.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_07_21.mp3
Deciphering God's will
In today's Gospel passage, Jesus tells us that if we do the will of his Father, then we are truly members of his family – the holy family – adopted by God, inheritors of everything that belongs to God on this earth and in heaven. But knowing what his will is can sometimes be difficult, not because we want to disobey, but simply because there are too many possibilities of what the Father's will might be.
God gave us our own individual will so that we're free to love him. This makes us vulnerable, however, to wrong decisions. We're free to make decisions without first discerning what is really best, right, and holy.
To be like our Divine Daddy and live as his child, we need to submit our will to his. This never means giving up our will. It never means that our desires and needs will be squashed or ignored by God. Rather, it means acknowledging that God has a better understanding of what's best, right, and holy. And since we want to benefit from God's better understanding, we want our will to be God's will, not by forcing God to agree with us and approve of our humanly-made decisions, but by forcing our will to agree with God's divine will.
That's not always easy. And sometimes it is! A good, healthy, holy prayer is: "Father, my Divine Daddy, here's what I want to do about ____, but you understand the whole situation infinitely better than I do, so please make sure YOUR will is done. I give you permission to conform my will to yours."
God does not want us to be confused or uncertain about his will and his desires. Even when there are multiple good choices and God likes them all, he has a preference, a top choice that he'd like us to know so that we can have the best possible life here on earth and the best possible relationship with him in heaven (with as short a time in purgatory as possible). He also hopes that we will reach our full potential for the sake of how we can help his other children.
Because he cares so much, he does not hide his will, lest it cause us to make terrible mistakes or blindly fall into sin. He does everything he can – which is more than we imagine – to help us remain close to him all the time, in every decision we make throughout the day, each day, even in details as small as choosing what to eat and which to wear. To figure out the how, when, where, etc., of his will, we need to (1) know what God reveals about it in scripture and in Church teachings, and (2) have an active, alive relationship with the Holy Spirit, who is the teacher and explainer of all truth.
When think we know God's will and desires, how can we be sure that God is really speaking to us and it's not just a trick of our own minds? This requires growth, a well-formed conscience, awareness of our weaknesses and vulnerabilities and areas of unhealthy thinking, surrendering ourselves continually to God, waiting for confirmation from reliable Christian community friends or spiritual directors, and trusting that God will provide other confirmation as well if it's that important.
For more on this topic, see these two WordBytes:http://wordbytes.org/ministry/discern/GodsWill.htmandhttp://wordbytes.org/ministry/discern/obstacles.htmOr download a collection of my reflections on this, in the e-book "Knowing God's Will and Doing it Well", published by Catholic Digital Resources:http://catholicdr.com/ebooks/GodsWill.htm
© 2009 by Terry A. ModicaFor PERMISSION to copy any of my reflections, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections/copyrights-DR.htm
Seeking a past reflection?Click this button to register for the searchable Archive Library of the Good News Reflections. One week access is free as a special gift to subscribers of these emailed reflections.
WAS THIS FORWARDED TO YOU BY A FRIEND?To sign up for your own subscription, go to:http://gogoodnews.net/DailyReflections
Why do I need you as a partner in my daily ministry?Please help with a donation, including non-financial support. Good News Ministries affects countless lives around the world, including in countries where people have no Catholic Mass and where Christianity is persecuted. continue...
Note: Good News Ministries is a non-profit organization that accepts donations as support for its ministries but does not charge for anything. Catholic Digital Resources™ is my employment through which I provide my writing services; the income from this (although very small at these early stages) will eventually support the future growth and projects of Good News Ministries. Please spread the word; tell your DRE, RCIA Director, pastor, etc. about what's available for parishes at Catholic Digital Resources™.
______________________________________________________________This is the "Good News Reflections - Early Edition" mailing list.MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION:Change your addressUnsubscribe