My Only Criteria: God's Will

Throughout life, we are constantly asked to make decisions. Our lives bring us across many forks in the road, where we have to choose between two or more alternatives, and we have to forgo certain paths we might like to go down. When making my decisions, when I am thinking clearly and not overwhelmed by emotion clouding my judgment, I have only one criteria that I ask myself in regards to what to do. That criteria comes in the form of the question: “What does God want me to do?” When I am stuck, I have to remind myself to ask the God Who created me, you, and all people and the universe, what He wants from me. When I am choosing how to make a certain decision, I have to ask God, “Is this what you want me to do?” If I feel it is something God wants me to do, I can do it, because God will give me the gifts and the strength and the grace to do what He asks of me.

For example, when I am besieged by yards of snow and don't want to shovel it anymore, I ask God, “Do you want me to shovel now, or wait a little?” Knowing, or at least suspecting or thinking, that God wants me to do something trumps all the doubts and fatigue that may otherwise cause me to quit something when I get into a rut or get stuck on something. If I am not sure what to do, I will pray until I get tired of praying and then do whatever it is that I believe might be God's will in my life and my action. Ultimately, I know I cannot succeed at anything unless the desire to do that comes from God. When I think God supports an action or a decision, I know I can do it. It is sad that a lot of our decision-making comes merely from blind reason, as opposed to through a dialogue of prayer with God and faith in Him that uplifts our reason above what we could not see without the supernatural virtue of faith.

When you are making decisions, and as you learn how to converse with God in your prayer life, my main suggestion would be to always know that God has the best plans for you. Be confident that if you really are truthful and sincere about wanting to do God's will and what is best for yourself and for others, you will succeed in living the best life you possibly can, and bettering your own and others lives for the better. Make God's will and God's desires your main criteria for all decisions and actions you take. And if you really think that God wants you to do something, go forth confidently, until you either succeed, or discover that you were wrong. And when you are wrong, admit it and try something else. As you learn how to critique and judge your own discernment of God's will, you will learn how to know when something is God's will or against God's will. Loving and doing God's will is a learning process, and you will get better the more you desire truly to do God's will and spread God's love in the world.