Spiritual Guidance or Discerning God’s Will

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I recently received an email from a friend who has been in recovery for many years. She is dedicated to the Twelve Step program, but still wrestles with issues of faith and discerning God’s will. Here is an excerpt of what she wrote to me:

One major stumbling block for me— in AA, in wanting to find religion, in life….how do I follow the will of God (higher power, some worthy guide, however defined) ? More precisely, how does one know/recognize or tap into the will of this higher guide/God? 

You could follow the Bible, but much of it is like fiction or literature….some of it might be a guide book… even so, the Bible cannot cover the day to day, moment to moment answers to each individual person’s specific life happenings and predicaments, occurring specific moment to specific moment, with a specific idiosyncratic context adjoined.  Following some guidebook such as the Bible, Koran or Torah means variation depending on religious perspective, not to mention variability in individual people’s interpretations….

So how does one  know or even guess God’s will? 

Prior to my personal life crisis, I confidently taught people how to discern God’s will and felt confident in my own ability to discern God’s will for my life. For the last couple of years, I have struggled with faith and discerning God’s will. I still consider myself a follower of Jesus, but it’s been a “dark night of the soul’ even though I have prayed daily for over two years to know and follow God’s will. As a pastor for forty years, I never really understood why people struggled with knowing God’s will. It came so easy for me.

Despite this struggle, I have thought deeply about how I might discern God’s will or a “higher purpose” for my life. I have thought back on how I taught others to discern God’s will and how some of those ideas may still be helpful to me and to others. Whether you are a spiritual seeker, an agnostic, a Buddhist, a Muslim, a Jewish believer, or a follower of Jesus, I think there may be some wisdom in the paradigm.

It’s a paradigm with a foundation and three pillars placed on the foundation. I’d love to hear your feedback. Let me know if you think it’s helpful.

Foundation. The foundation consists of core values, guiding principles, or sacred texts. I have always gone through a process of writing out my core values. I intentionally rethink them every three to five years, but they have remained fairly consist. Even now. I usually try to limit my core values to my top ten list. This forces me to think about things that guide my personal values—how I want to show up in the world—how I relate to myself, others, God and how I navigate decision making. They are not theological doctrines but more like the core principles that guide the way I live my life. I have actually written a blog on each of my top ten core values in 2021 (available at spiritualityadventures.com). Most of my core values are biblical and Jesus-centered. A great example of foundational principles is the Twelve Step program of AA. The principles of AA are very biblical, but they are written in a way so that people of all faith traditions (or no faith tradition) can access them. In fact, to my knowledge, the principles of AA would resonate with all the major faith traditions and people who seek to practice service to humanity for the greater good.

Pillar One: Circumstances. The first pillar on top of the foundation is circumstances. Many circumstances in life are beyond our control, but we must accept and respond or seek to change. Sometimes doors of opportunity are opened with unusual timing. Sometimes doors of opportunity are slammed shut. Carl Jung talked about synchronicity—a well timed message or an encounter with a person or group that seems to resonate with meaning and purpose. I call these things divine appointments or divine timing of circumstances. Everyone must process the circumstances which life presents to us—facing reality—or life on life’s terms. I have grown to love the serenity prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Make it so Lord!

Pillar Two: Counsel. The second pillar is seeking wise counsel. Seeking wise counsel is a biblical value. There are dozens of passages in the Hebrew Bible about the importance of counsel. “Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success” (Proverbs 15:22; NLT). Each person needs to find a constellation of mentors and/or counselors who identify with your core values and who are committed to your success. These counselors may consist of close family members, friends, colleagues, professional counselors or therapists, clergy, and business associates.

Pillar Three: Heart. This pillar goes by various names. I’ve heard it called intuition or inner peace. People in the recovery world know how deceptive the heart can be when under the influence of substances, but truth be told, everyone must rely on their own intuition to navigate much of life. Malcolm Gladwell has written an interesting book on “thin-slicing” entitled Blink. Thin-slicing is our ability to use limited information from a very narrow period of experience to come to a conclusion. What some might call intuition or instinctive abilities. Everyone uses them everyday to navigate life, relationships, and work. Our heart is always influenced by many factors such as environmental factors (nurture), hereditary factors (nature), opportunities, obstacles, hurts, habits, hang ups, hopes, family, and relationships. All of us consult our internal guide on a daily basis. I believe our intuitions can be honed and developed over time through spiritual growth. 

This paradigm is not a slam dunk for knowing God’s will or living for a higher purpose, but it certainly moves us in a good direction. Prayer envelopes the whole process. I honestly think it’s more about the kind of people we are becoming in relationship to ourselves, others, and our higher power than any one particular decision. This paradigm does not eliminate doubt, questions, or indecisive moments.

Maybe it goes without saying, but the more important the decision, the more important it is for everything to be in synergy. There is a big difference between deciding what to wear in the morning and deciding a career path, a life partner, or how to raise your children. Hundreds of small decisions are made every day without much consideration, but it’s always good to be kind to your neighbor. Hard to go wrong when you practice loving God and loving your neighbor.

I wrestle with this paradigm everyday as I seek to move forward and do God’s will at this juncture in my life. It’s seems more challenging now than ever before. May God bless you and keep you and shine his light upon you, in you, and through you as you seek to do God’s will and live for a higher purpose.

Shalom

©realfredherron, 2021