Why Is it So Hard?? How to Know God's Will for Your Life AND Act On It

(Readings: Romans 7:18-25;
Psalm 119:66, 68, 76, 77, 93, & 94; and Luke 12:54-59)

In life, we often say things like, “If I just knew what God wanted me to do I would do it.”

Our readings today highlight and emphasize for us the fact that even when we know the way God is calling us to live, even when we know the path He wants us to follow, we still often fail to do so.

We choose our own way, instead of God’s way.

In the first reading from Romans, St. Paul confesses that he struggled with this as well. He says, “Good does not dwell in my flesh, for I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want.”

We are all familiar with this statement from St. Paul, but after that, he says something not so familiar that nevertheless is very important. It is one of the primary reasons that St. Paul and all of us often struggle to do God’s will, instead choosing to sin even when we know it is wrong.

St. Paul said, “I discovered that when I want to do right, evil is at hand.” The point he is making, the point we need to remember, is that anytime we strive to draw closer to the Lord there will be opposition from the enemy. In fact, this opposition could be a good indicator that we are on the right track.

We live in a fallen, sinful world, and the more we surrender ourselves to God the bigger the enemy’s target gets on our back.

The last thing the enemy wants is for us for us to grow in our relationship with God, because the closer we get to God the less influence our enemy has over us. You see, what happens is when we give ourselves body, mind, and soul to the Lord, who is love, when the enemy pushes the same old buttons that have encouraged us to sin in the past, we will have changed and have a much greater chance of not falling to his same old lies and deceptions.

Regular Confession and frequent receiving of the Eucharist—daily, if possible—are fountains of grace God freely gives us in the Sacraments. They strengthen us for this fight, heal the cracks in our spiritual armor, and provide contrast in our spiritual vision so that we can more clearly see what is of God in our daily lives and what is of the enemy.

Of course, the enemy can’t make us sin, but he knows us and he knows that if he throws the right candy out, we’re probably going to pick it up, because that’s what has drawn us to sin in the past.

“Lord, teach me your statutes.”

In this, our responsorial Psalm today, the Psalmist is pleading to God, asking him to lead him in his ways. He says, “Teach me wisdom and knowledge, for in your commands I trust. You are good and bountiful: teach me your statutes. Let your kindness comfort me, let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight for through them you give me life. I am yours; save me.”

This should be our attitude and request to God each day, so that we may continue to grow in our knowledge of him and love of living a life according to God’s will, instead of our own.

In the gospel, Jesus is chastising the people who should know the statutes and precepts of God. They have been taught them, but they have chosen to ignore God’s ways and are now oblivious to God’s call to them. This is why no matter how strong we think our relationship is with the Lord, we should never take it for granted, like these people did.

We should never assume that we have grown so close to the Lord that we are no longer prone to sin.

To confirm this all we have to do is look at the Popes, Bishops, Priests, and Deacons over the centuries who were called and blessed by God to enter into a relationship and life of service to God that few people experience, only to betray the Lord and fall to grave mortal sin, with some even attempting to teach a faith other than the gospel of Jesus.

This is why our daily life of prayer, self-denial, and works of mercy is so important to our spiritual life.

During diaconate formation we were often told, that anytime you see a Bishop, Priest, or Deacon who is not living their vocation, all you have to do is look at their prayer life and you will find that they will have abandoned the life of prayer that they had committed themselves to at their ordination, causing them to fall to their own sinful nature and the lies of the enemy.

Brothers and Sisters, we should always be aware that the devil is constantly seeking new ways to draw us away from the Lord.

But we don’t need to be afraid! He has no power over us unless we give it to him.

And we should recognize that the spiritual life is a lifelong process. There will be ups and downs. But if we keep our eyes focused on Jesus, day by day, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God the Father will form us to the image of his son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, so that those ups and downs in our spiritual life are constantly trending up, moving us closer to the Lord, sharing in His life, and ultimately leading us to holiness and heaven.

Amen.