Discerning God’s Will & Voice

Gregg’s Reflection

When I read Carlos Casteneda’s The Teachings of Don Juan as a young man I was a seeker and a searcher, but not yet a believer. When Don Juan said, “For each of us, there is a path with a heart,” I began to wonder. Is there a path for me? How would I find it?

Thus began a lifelong yearning to find the path God had laid out for me. My early experiences of wilderness planted seeds that kept drawing my wife Genie and me, from our earliest times together, back into nature and wild places. I just completed a photo book titled 50 Years of Adventures on God’s Faint Path. It chronicles the journeys Genie and I have made, and the vast majority are to beautiful places, not cities or museums or cathedrals. The inner peace and calm that we experienced out in nature became like a homing device that has been an immense help in finding God’s Faint Path through our lives. My friend Pastor Mike Foss describes ‘separating signal from noise.’

Most of my coaching work is helping people see their gifts, find the disciplines that let them hear the ‘still, small voice’ and separate signal from noise.

I find that I stumble off the path quite often, and it seems rare at times to find myself back on the path. It’s a wonderful feeling, stumbling back across the path. I have taken great solace in this prayer from Thomas Merton, where he admits his struggle discerning God’s will.

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. 

Thomas Merton Thoughts in Solitude, p. 79

Journaling Prompts

What is evoked in you when you read Merton’s prayer? What practices help you discern God’s faint path in your life? What is the intersection of your gifts and your passions, the seeds of calling in your life? Many, like me, achieved no clarity of calling until they were nearly 50. How do you open yourself to continuing discernment of the unfolding of your life?

Scripture

God said ‘Go.’ So Abram went, as the Lord had told him. Gen 12:1,4. Without questioning God, Abram gets up and goes. The life of faith is characterized as a journey. God calls and we go forth in faith without a map, not quite sure where we are going, but with trust in God’s promised presence. RENOVARE Bible notes on Genesis 12:4-5

The spiritual life actually begins with God speaking to us and our listening to his voice. Our spirits grow when we listen to the voice of God. There is nothing more important than being still within and attending to him. As we mature, we will grow more sensitive to God’s voice. Too often today the tables are turned. We speak and God listens. We never stop to hear what God wants to say. As a result, we wonder if God has heard our voice. But, the better question is, have we heard his voice? Renovare Bible notes on Numbers 1.

Truly it is the spirit in a mortal, the breath of the Almighty, that makes for understanding. Job 32:8-9

Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Now there was a great wind, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. Then there came a still, small voice to him. 1 Kings 19:11-13

My soul yearns for you at night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks you. Isaiah 26:9

When you turn to the right or to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” Isaiah 30:20

I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go, I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Psalm 32:8

You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me with honor. Psalm 73:24

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. Psalm 130:5

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, ‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11-13‬ ‭

Wisdom is radiant and easily discerned by those who love her. Wis 6:12

Let those who are friendly to you be many, but let your advisors be one in a thousand. Sirach 6:6

They will arrest you and persecute you…You will be brought before kings and governors. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare a defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. Luke 21:12-14

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. John 16:13

If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Gal 5:25

If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given to you. James 1

Spiritual progress is the result of deliberate and discerning choices. RENOVARE Bible notes on Hebrews, NT p. 404

Do not quench the Spirit.1 Thessalonians 5:19 The voice of the Spirit of God is as gentle as a summer breeze. The sense of warning and restraint that the Spirit gives comes to us in the most amazingly gentle ways. And if you are not sensitive enough to detect His voice, you will quench it, and your spiritual life will be impaired. 

Oswald Chambers, Do Not Quench the Spirit 

Ancient Writings

In the beginning, there is struggle and a lot of work for those who come near to God. But, after that, there is indescribable joy. It is just like building a fire: at first it’s smoky and your eyes water, but later you get the desired result. Thus we ought to light the divine fire in ourselves with tears and effort.

Amma Syncletica Desert Wisdom, p. xii-xiii 

Whenever we turn to God, there is a light that shines and burns in us, guiding us to what we should do and what we should not do, giving us all kinds of good instruction, on which we had no knowledge or understanding in the past.

Meister Eckhart, Sermon 24, Selected Writings, p. 216

The whole essence of the spiritual life consists in recognizing the designs of God for us in this present moment. 

Jean-Pierre of Caussade, Abandonment to Divine Providence, p. 36

Rules for discernment of spirits: Good influences provide courage and strength and produce peace and a greater feeling of love, while choices influenced by evil cause regret, sadness and disquiet. 

Ignatius of Loyola

It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment. 

Cicero, Joan Chittister, The Gift of Years, p. 7

Into every duty a God-fearing heart must be put, a heart constantly permeated by the thought of God; and this will be the door through which the soul will enter into active life. . . . The essence is to be established in the remembrance of God, and to walk in his presence. 

Theophan the Recluse

Modern Writings

Your Life is Guided by God. To walk in the presence of the Lord means to move forward in life in such a way that all our desires, thoughts, and actions are constantly guided by him. When we walk in the Lord’s presence, everything we see, hear, touch, or taste reminds us of him. This is what is meant by a prayerful life. It is not a life in which we say many prayers, but a life in which nothing, absolutely nothing, is done, said, or understood independently of him who is the origin and purpose of our existence.

Henri Nouwen, Nouwen Society Daily Devotion, 1/23/23

Intuition cannot be produced. It has to be allowed to happen. But that is just what the rational mind cannot endure. It wants to control everything. It is not prepared to be silent, to be still, to allow things to happen. It is a state of receptivity. 

Bede Griffiths, Matthew Fox, Christian Mystics, p. 241

While being so busy running my own life, I become oblivious to the gentle movements of the Spirit of God within me, pointing me in directions quite different from my own. It requires a lot of inner solitude and silence to become aware of these divine movements. God does not shout, scream, or push. The Spirit of God is soft and gentle like a small voice or a light breeze. It is the Spirit of Love. 

Henri Nouwen, Nouwen Society Daily Devo, 4/26/22

If God waited for a perfect instrument, nothing would get done. 

Richard Rohr, Essential Teachings on Love, p. 161

True discernment is about finding the middle way between extremes. It allows us to see when we are on the right path and when we are getting off track. The virtues are always found in a state of balance and peace, if they become fanatic or extreme then they quickly lose their truth and become vices instead. 

Justin Coutts, In Search of a New Eden Daily Devo, 7/25/21

Where are you finding God? The central question of spiritual direction. 

Mark Ritchie, Spiritual Director

Listen to your heart. It’s there that Jesus speaks most intimately to you. Praying is first and foremost listening to Jesus who dwells in the very depths of your heart. He doesn’t shout. He doesn’t thrust himself upon you. His voice is an unassuming voice, very nearly a whisper, the voice of a gentle love.

Whatever you do with your life, go on listening to the voice of Jesus in your heart. This listening must be an active and very attentive listening, for in our restless and noisy world God’s so loving voice is easily drowned out. You need to set aside some time every day for this active listening to God if only for ten minutes. Ten minutes each day for Jesus alone can bring about a radical change in your life. 

Henri Nouwen, Nouwen Society Daily Devo, 5/18/21

We can discern the depths of our lives and vocation only if we surrender our ego-centered view of reality. Through the narrow gate of ego abdication, we find our truth, our true selves, and our vocation. 

Henri Nouwen, Discernment, p. xvii

Apart from the love of God in our lives, we are people lost at sea, without anchors. Divine guidance can be found in books we read, the nature we enjoy, the people we meet, and the events we experience. 

Henri Nouwen, Discernment, p. xxvi-xxvii

Discernment is faithful living and listening to God’s love and direction so that we can fulfill our individual calling and shared mission. Living a spiritually mature life requires listening to God’s voice within and among us. To discern means first of all to listen to God, to pay attention to God’s active presence, and to obey God’s prompting, direction, leadings and guidance. 

Henri Nouwen, Discernment, p. 3-5

The Spirit works deep within us, so deeply that we cannot always identify its presence. That is why setting aside a special time of prayer is so important. Simple faithfulness in prayer gives the Spirit of God a real chance to work in us, to help us be renewed in God’s hands and be conformed to God’s will. 

Henri Nouwen, Discernment, p. 12

God speaks to us all the time and in many ways, but it requires spiritual discernment to hear God’s voice, see what God sees, and read the signs in daily life. No one can discern the signs of life alone. We turn to our religious traditions and also to the wisdom others have gained and recorded from their journeys. As we learn to read spiritually about spiritual things, we open our hearts to God’s voice. 

Henri Nouwen, Discernment, p. 41-42

It is remarkable to see how prayer and contemplation open your eyes to nature, and how nature makes you more attentive to divine guidance. Letting nature speak opens up new aspects of discerning the divine presence in what we so dimly see.

Henri Nouwen, Discernment, p. 56

Living Signposts: people who point us to God. God speaks to us through the people who speak to us about the things of God. 

Henri Nouwen, Discernment, p, 65

God has a very special role for you to fulfill. God wants you to stay close to his heart and to let him guide you. You will know what you are called to do when you have to know it. 

Henri Nouwen, Discernment, p. 99

You can’t see the whole path ahead, but there is usually enough light to take the next step. And then to trust God’s guidance in the moment. 

Henri Nouwen, Discernment, p. 179

Faith enlightens the path behind you, but as a rule, in front of you it is still dark. Now, however, not so threatening or impossible, because for you “a light shines on in the darkness.” (John 1:5) 

Richard Rohr, Naked Now, p. 121

Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant. Lean toward the whispers of your own heart, discover the universal truth, and follow its dictates. Know that the truth always leads to love and the perpetuation of peace. Its products are never bitterness and strife.

Clothe yourself in the work of love, in the revolutionary work of nonviolent resistance against evil. Anchor the eternity of love in your own soul and embed this planet with goodness. Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won. 

John Lewis with Brenda Jones, Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America, p. 208.

Life is about discovering the right questions more than having the right answers. This principle keeps us on the path of ongoing discernment, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:10). A discerning and inquiring spirit will make us discoverers in touch with our hidden unconscious and the deeper truth. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways are not your ways. . . . As high as the heavens are from the earth so are my thoughts above your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9).

The depth and mystery of God leaves all of us as perpetual searchers and seekers, always novices and beginners. It is the narrow and dark way of faith. “Search and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you,” says Jesus (Luke 11:9). There is something inherently valuable about an attitude of spiritual curiosity and persistent “knocking.” Only those led by the Spirit into ever deeper seeing, hearing, and surrendering—spiritual seekers and self-questioners—will fall into the hands of the living God.

This will always be “a narrow gate and a hard road” that “only a few will walk” (Matthew 7:14).  Spiritual seeking will make a person be a perpetual and humble student instead of a contented careerist, a quester rather than a settler, an always impatient, yearning, and desirous lover. I will bet on such spiritual seekers any day. They are on the real and only quest. 

Richard Rohr, “Questions versus Answers,” Radical Grace 25, no. 4, The Eight Core Principles (Fall 2012): 33–36.

If something comes towards you in grace and can pass through you and towards others with grace, you can trust it as the voice of God. The heartfelt desire to do the will of God is the truest will of God. God has won, ego has lost. 

Richard Rohr, Universal Christ, p. 88

God’s will is not immediately evident. Discernment sifts the evidence and then decides, in the light of the inward attraction of grace, what God seems to be asking here and now. 

Thomas Keating Open Hearts Open Minds p. 164

Meditation is about knowing and discerning. Contemplation is about experiencing unity. 

Mark Ritchie, Spiritual Director

I took the road less traveled, and that made all the difference. 

Robert Frost

The challenges we encounter are often road maps, pointing us in a different direction than one we might have planned. If we can open ourselves to trusting the divine and allowing our lives to unfold, it’s amazing what can happen. 

Polly Baca

Human institutions, after a certain point, become mostly interested in sustaining themselves — and as a result, they will frequently accept convenient lies over difficult truths, provided the convenient lies will allow them to avoid rethinking the way they do things. 

Emily Todd VanDerWerff

The opposite of faith is not doubt, it is certainty. 

Father Bert, Mindful Silence p. 139