What does God want me to do?
It’s such a good question because it speaks honestly to the heart of the one who’s asking it. I want to do what the Lord wants me to do. I want to be faithful. I know that He has a will. If only He would show. If only I could know.
Today, let’s pray that the Holy Spirit would help us to be able to discern what it is that God wants of us.
First off, it should be noted that discernment is between two goods. I don’t have to discern whether or not I should go to Adoration or go rob a bank. You don’t have to discern things like that. And that is, in one sense, one of the things that makes discernment more difficult, because it is between two goods—no matter what you choose, it’s a good. To be able to say yes to one good means to be able to say no to another good. And that can be complicated and that can be difficult.
This is why the Holy Spirit, and the presence of the Holy Spirit, is so important in this process. It’s not merely a question of flipping a coin. We discern by being present to God and asking the Holy Spirit to work through us and to work through people that we know to help me understand what it is that God wants me to do.
At the very beginning of the process, if there’s something that we’re trying to discern, we pray that the Lord would guide it. We just place the whole process under the lordship of Jesus and under the guidance of His Holy Spirit. We ask that the Holy Spirit would lead us to the Lord’s will. And as we begin that, it’s important that we’re also patient. This isn’t a little magic trick. It’s not something that says if we do X, Y, and Z, then we know this, right? No. It’s a process that we enter into, trusting that the Lord is going to lead, and also trusting in the Lord’s timing. We must trust in the Lord’s timing.
Discernment is paying attention to the Spirit’s work in my life. Discernment is being attentive to the little ways that the Spirit is speaking to my heart. We give our heart to the Lord, and this is important in the process of discernment. We give our heart to the Lord and ask Him to move in our hearts so that we can know His will.
The Scripture says that the desire of our hearts, that the Lord wants to do the desire of our heart. But sometimes we don’t even know what is the desire of our heart. It is imperative that the first thing we do is we give our heart to the Lord.
The other is in this process of discernment, we seek counsel of those that we trust—those individuals in our life that we believe are walking with Christ and that the Holy Spirit is operating in them. Because sometimes they can help us see things about ourselves that we don’t even see.
And, another part of this is that we pray that the Spirit would bring peace and clarity in what He wants of us. A really simple thing that we could do is, if we’ve got a discernment that we’re going to do A or B, we just pray, “I’m going to do A. I think You’re calling me to do this.” The , just sit with that and then pray with that, and notice what questions come up, what anxiety, what concerns, what joys, what excitement comes up. Ultimately, if there’s anxiety and fears, we say, where’s that coming from? Is there peace? And then maybe just, again, a simple exercise: do the other thing. If, for one week, decide I’m gonna do A; second week, I’m gonna do B. And again, just pray that through what moves in your heart—what causes anxiety, questions, discernment—and then just be able to stop and be present. What brings you the most peace? In the end, honestly, that’s what we have to go with: that we follow God where He’s leading, that there is peace, and that peace comes to our heart. And this is obviously assuming all things, right?
That is true discernment. It is for good. It is consistent with your state of life. It is consistent with the teachings of the Church. It is consistent with the Gospel. All of those things are given. And then ultimately, we pray for that peace—the peace that Scripture says is beyond all understanding.
And then finally and ultimately, we have to make a step. We have to step forward. We have to trust that God is leading us, that He’s operating in our life. He’s going to bless us.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105
This Psalm speaks of the Lord being the lamp unto our feet. Sometimes we want the Lord to be the light a mile down. But, no. He’s just the lamp unto our feet. So we make this step in faith, trusting that the Lord is going to lead us.
Like Peter – when we step out of the boat, we must focus on Jesus for each individual step across the water. Look up and around at what’s ahead – splash – we sink.