| October 4, 2021 -- I have on two prior occasions written about knowing what rules God wants us to follow, using as a yardstick the two great commandments “Love the Lord with all your heart” and “Love your neighbor as yourself. So far, what I have given you is the easy part. What about the situations where we have choices to make and both the choices (or all the choices) seem to fit within the guidelines? I am setting aside for now those situations where no matter what we do it is wrong. That is a problem for which I do not have a ready answer, and if I did have an answer the chances are that it would be wrong also. Books have been written on this subject, and they disagree with each other.
I think also we can ignore those times when we are choosing whether to take the apple pie or the blueberry pie. No, what I want to look are those times when we have a choice and wonder if God would prefer us to choose a particular path. The mere fact that we wonder what God would prefer us to do is enough reason for us to give the matter some thought. There is a formal process for this called “spiritual discernment”. It helps us to decide what God is calling us to do, or perhaps in many cases, what God is calling us to “be”. Although it is possible to do “self-discernment”, it is often better to do this with the help of a discernment counselor, a discernment group, or even a discernment committee.
Discernment is an intentional, prayerful process where we seek God’s direction to guide us in our next steps. If you have found yourself wondering about how God might be inviting you to use your talents and gifts to make a difference in the world, you might find a period of discernment a helpful practice.
But do not feel left out if God is not calling you to a special mission. Remember that God needs good and faithful followers just as much as He needs good and faithful leaders. Perhaps God is satisfied that you are already fulfilling your place in His plan.
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