36. What Is The Will Of God?

"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." - Matthew 6:10

The will of God is what God commands, permits, ordains, and desires for His glory and the salvation of souls. A beginner must learn this because Catholic life is not the search for self-expression. It is the return of the will to God.

The catechism answer is simple: The will of God is His holy rule for what we must believe, avoid, suffer, choose, and do in order to know, love, and serve Him.

The soul becomes ordered when it learns to say with Our Lord: "Not my will, but thine be done."

The question is not first, "What do I prefer?" It is not first, "What feels meaningful?" It is not first, "What will others approve?" The question is: "What does God will?"

God's will is not discovered by impulse alone. It is known first through His commandments, the teaching of the Church, duties of state, lawful authority, providence, and prayer.

The soul that wants God must want His will.

God's commanded will is clear in what He requires. He commands worship, faith, charity, purity, justice, truthfulness, reverence, forgiveness, obedience, and repentance.

No one needs a private sign to know whether mortal sin should be avoided. No one needs a special revelation to know whether he must keep the commandments.

The first way to follow God's will is to obey what He has already made known.

God also permits things He does not directly will as evil: suffering, trials, persecution, sickness, humiliation, loss, and the sins of others. He permits them without being the author of sin.

This mystery is difficult, but it is not meaningless. God can draw purification, penance, patience, reparation, and deeper union with Christ from what He permits.

The Christian does not call evil good. He trusts that God remains Lord even when evil is permitted.

Providence is God's wise governance of all things. Nothing escapes Him. The soul should learn to see duties, crosses, limits, delays, corrections, and daily responsibilities under His fatherly rule.

This does not make man passive. The Christian must act, choose, pray, work, resist sin, and fulfill duty.

Providence teaches trust without laziness.

Much of God's will is found in duties of state. A father should not ignore his family while searching for some dramatic vocation. A mother should not despise hidden sacrifices. A child should obey. A worker should work honestly. A penitent should amend.

God's will is often nearer than the soul imagines.

The next duty done for love of God is a safe beginning.

When a decision is not clearly commanded or forbidden, the soul should pray, examine motives, seek sound counsel when needed, and choose what best serves God's glory, duty, virtue, and salvation.

Peace alone is not always a proof. Feelings can mislead. The soul should ask whether a choice increases obedience, humility, charity, purity, and fidelity.

God does not contradict His own law.

Self-will dresses itself as freedom, discernment, or personal authenticity. But if it refuses God's law, rejects correction, despises duty, or chooses comfort over obedience, it remains rebellion.

The soul must not baptize stubbornness with religious language.

The will of God wounds pride because it dethrones the self.

The soul must learn that God's will is known first through His law.

The soul must learn to accept what God permits without calling evil good.

The soul must learn to find God's will in daily duty.

The soul must learn to seek counsel when judgment is unclear.

The soul must learn to surrender self-will.

The will of God is His holy rule for what we must believe, avoid, suffer, choose, and do in order to know, love, and serve Him.

A beginner should ask: Am I obeying what God has clearly commanded? Do I accept duties as part of His will? Do I trust Providence under the Cross? Do I seek counsel when confused? Do I prefer God's will to my own?

The soul finds peace not by ruling itself, but by belonging to God.