Wanting to Discern God’s Will at Work? Try a Reframe.
“My child, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials” (Sirach 2:1).
A business opportunity seemingly fell into my lap. It had my name written all over it, and I had a gut feeling that this one was God’s will. It just felt like it had been stamped with divine synchronicity.
Before I said my final “Yes!”, I did my best to dot my Is and cross my Ts using the potpourri of tools that I had always turned to make sure that I was doing all the “right things” to ensure that I was aligned with God’s will. After all this action, I felt confident (well, confident enough), so I said “yes” to the opportunity.
However, it took only a short while for me to realize that something wasn’t sitting right. I tried ignoring it at first, but eventually, there was no denying it: Something was off. Way off.
I have always been able to see the big picture, and almost immediately, it was clear to me that it would be challenging and take a long time to create change. The amount of energy I was using and would need to tap into to achieve results was much more than I had anticipated. Yet, I had fully committed, and I am not a quitter.
Still, it was hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I saw no relief in sight, and I was feeling a strong urge to make a decision. I turned back to the same decision-making tools that I had applied to my initial decision, but I did not gain any clarity. In fact, it left me feeling more stuck. I was in the grips of fear: fear of making a hasty decision, fear of making the wrong decision, and fear of having disappointed God by relying on my own strength.
I realized that I had been resting on some old faulty beliefs that no longer served me. I knew that I needed to uncover and discard them. I had to consider this question: Had these beliefs ever really served me? Here are three key truths that I uncovered and applied to this experience—and that I still keep in mind anytime I am discerning an important decision.
Old Idea: “When I am in God’s will, I should never feel uncomfortable.”
Truth: It is possible for God to will some discomfort.
For a long time, I had a false belief running in the background of my mind that God is mean and vindictive or chooses only certain people to do good. But, Scripture promises us that God is love (John 4:16). He wants the best for each of us, even through our sinful nature. He does not have a naughty or nice list like Santa Claus!
I can feel Jesus speaking to me when I recite the words that he said to the little girl in Aramaic when he brought her back from the dead: “Talitha koum!” (“Girl, I say to you, arise!”; Mark 5:41). Discomfort gives me the opportunity to lean in, listen, and go deeper—and use that experience to help others.
Discomfort is a human emotion, and emotions are good and God-given. It is when my emotions become disordered that they become a vice (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1763-1766).
Trusting in God in the unknown and in pain can be beautiful. This realization has been a gift, bringing me closer to God and giving me an unexplainable freedom.
Old Idea: “Now that I can see God working in my life, I can rest easy.”
Truth: Discernment will never be crossed off my to-do list.
Discernment is not like the Ronco rotisserie chicken infomercial tagline, “Set it and forget it!” Making a big decision does not always lead to an easy season of life. In fact, I have found the opposite to be true. It calls me not to rest on my spiritual laurels but to listen even more.
As I grow in my relationship with God and find ways to trust Him more, my methods of decision-making will change, as well, though the building blocks will stay the same. I frequently find myself being drawn in prayer to ask God what is blocking me from trusting and submitting to Him and to ask Him to add things to my life that will bring me closer to Him.
Old Idea: “I have to hustle at determining God’s Will.”
Truth: God’s will is always the simpler solution: whatever helps me grow in love of Him.
One of my biggest shifts in clarity was when I stopped asking (demanding?) God to show me what to do—and to meet my deadlines in doing so.
Said another way, I stopped acting selfish and childish.
God lives outside of time and space, so I can trust His timeline and focus on loving Him with all my heart (Matthew 22:34-40). When I am focused on loving God, I seem to more intuitively know what I need to do—without drama, without fuss, and even when life gets fussy (as it always does!). St. Augustine described the practical application of the reason for his love affair with God when he wrote, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Confessions 1, 1.5).
So, I left my wheelhouse.
For a businesswoman whose operating system up to this point had been built upon making smart plans and executing strategy, practically applying this new approach to discernment was out of my wheelhouse. However, in intentionally growing my personal love of, and deepening my trust in, Christ, I am continually becoming better at discerning God’s will.
I needed a guide to help me with this shift, particularly during this period of discernment. Therefore, I made an urgent appointment to meet with my spiritual director to learn how to cultivate this love of God. Here are the suggestions he gave me:
I pray the Liturgy of the Hours (the Divine Office)—specifically the Midday Prayer, which falls in the middle of my workday.
I physically leave my place of work to pray Midday Prayer. It’s during lunchtime, so it’s a natural time to leave, and my spiritual director suggested a grassy spot at a nearby Catholic garden.
My spiritual director explained that St. Francis of Assissi adopted seasons of deep prayer (outside of Lent and Advent)—and, conveniently, one of these Fransican prayer seasons happened to start the day before I began this new prayer routine. I committed to praying this way for just this prayer season before trying any other forms of prayer and before making any major decisions.
While I did have doubts (I had a feeling that this approach was not going to give me that instant gratification to which I had grown so accustomed), I knew it was the right thing to do.
The suggestion to switch up my environment during Midday Prayer and go to a holy place was genius. I also loved the idea of praying this way for a season, without making any important decisions and without an end goal in mind.
In fact, I had felt a desire to start praying the Liturgy of the Hours for some time, but it seemed radical, and I hadn’t been willing to commit. My spiritual director suggested I just listen to the prayers via the Divine Office app, which houses all the prayers of the Divine Office for each day—in written and audio format—so I could focus on the prayers instead of the ribbons! This nudge and easy solution was handed to me on a silver platter.
The stunning conclusion to my challenging work situation?
By praying this way daily, especially during the middle of my workday and at a holy place I nurtured my love for God almost immediately. I’ll have to admit that at first it felt weird to not ask God for direction when praying. On the other hand, it lifted some external pressure off me and my relationship with God. What a gift!
God did for me what I could not do for myself. In fact, I did not have to make a decision about staying or going: On the final day of that prayer season, my position was eliminated.
I do believe that it was God’s will for me to feel uncomfortable throughout this business decision. I had always wanted to grow my personal relationship with Christ, but for years, it remained a “nice idea.” My discomfort helped me understand how to finally have that a personal, loving relationship with Jesus.
I still pray the Liturgy of the Hours daily. In fact, this change in my prayer life was one of the most spectacular shifts I have felt to date in growing my personal love of God. I even started praying Morning, Evening, and Night prayers, too, using Word on Fire’s monthly “Liturgy of the Hours” booklet. It helps me stay off my phone first thing in the morning and last thing at night. It also helps me see the world differently. I have a renewed spiritual vision and a stronger and truer dependance on God. I feel so alive!
Aimee Arnold owns multiple small businesses, and her professional experience in marketing, operations, and hospitality spans a handful of industries and has taken her all over the world. Depending on the season, she can also be found foraging wild mushrooms with her husband for homemade pizzas, Latin dancing to live music, or cross country skiing off the grid or stand up paddleboarding with her dog. While active in the church in her youth, as an adult, her Mass attendance slowly dropped off and eventually became nonexistent. After experiencing the beauty of the sacramentals in a variety of the magnificent churches around the world, like a magnet she was drawn back to consistent mass attendance, and she now encounters Christ in a way she’d never before experienced. Connect with Aimee directly on Instagram, LinkedIn, or at AimeeArnold.com.