So how do we know it? Yeah, yeah, I know that we can know God's will through prayer, studying scripture, quieting our lives to listen to His voice, etc. I've got that. What I'm asking is, how do we know that what we believe to be God's will is actually God's will? Have you ever wondered about that?
When I came to my current ministry, it was a series of things falling into place neatly and perfectly that led me to believe that it was God's will for me to be here. I was finishing up college and needed a job. The pastor was someone that I had interned with at his last church. He called me up out of the blue to do a summer internship the summer before my senior year. He and the elders worked all throughout my senior year of college to exhort the congregation to increase their giving so that they could hire me full-time. The congregation responded. It was truly a 'perfect storm' of all the things happening that needed to happen, all at the right time. It was pretty clear to me that God had called me here.
But what if it's not the same story in your situation? What if you're faced with two or even three choices that all seem equally good (or equally bad)? What if God is calling you to something that isn't comfortable, or doesn't 'all fall into place'? What if you've prayed and prayed, studied and studied, cancelled your cable so that you'd be less distracted from God's voice, and you still don't have certainty?
I'd love to hear your answers to those questions, because I don't have any foolproof ones. I'm just as human, just as uncertain, just as foolish as anyone else when it comes to the things of God. But it's important for us all to know God's will and calling for our lives, so we have to keep striving towards knowledge and understanding.
Did you know that when St Paul spoke of “living sacrifice” he was speaking specifically of “worship?” The word “present” was taken from military formation and survives in the command “present arms” It also has the meaning of “being in existence at this time” make yourself present – which is your “reasonable service” could more accurately be translated, “rational liturgizing.” He was picturing communal prayer as “living sacrifice” Has been the common theme of the Church from the beginning that “transformation” (metempsychosis) of the mind (nous – the spiritual capacity) happens as a result of “worship – liturgizing”. It requires this (metempsychosis) to perceive what is the will of God, moment by moment. And Saint Ignatius writing in the same decade Saint John penned his Gospel – called it, “Recreating oneself in the Faith.” He too was speaking about the central focus of Christianity, “the thanksgiving” about proper worship, writing to the Corinthians who had gotten all “crazy” and out of order, again.
ReplyDeleteSeeking God's will is as simple as living life prayerfully. It isn't a matter of trying to intuit the future, but trust in the moment by moment decisions taken prayerfully, that ultimately create what is next, naturally, even organically, if you will. We cannot seperate moment by moment faithfulness and knowledge of God's will, the first creates the second. Saint Paul, following what he "thought" was God's will was prevented phycically from his plan, literally driven back to start in a different direction. He was actively headed in the wrong direction and was dramatically guided. When one lives prayerfully it is impossible to miss God's will, the Holy Spirit will not allow it.
In the Gospels when Jesus spoke of those, "doing God's will" he was speaking of those keeping the two great commandments to the best of their ability. I can only find one place in scripture where the will of God is defined, and it says taht it is his will that none should perish and that all should come to eternal life. Those persuing this goal ARE doing God's will. Our particular "vocations" are far less important than the substanitive foundation.