One of the many, many challenging things about being a Christian is that our God is never content to let us stand still and rest on our laurels. Like a parent who can see the potential in their growing child, our loving Father is forever calling us forward, challenging us to move beyond our perceived capabilities and push out into the deep.
Sometimes this call comes to us in an obvious design...a potential job, a request from a trusted friend or colleague or an unexpected opportunity to undertake a new challenge. More often though, it comes to us in a personal restlessness – a sense that things are “not quite right”, that there’s more to life and more to us than we had ever appreciated or understood.
None of us is exempt from this feeling because each of us is loved by God not only for who we are, but what we are becoming. The reality that each of us faces, and by which we will ultimately be judged, is how we respond to this restlessness. Do we avoid the opportunity to grow, telling ourselves that “it’s not our time” or “I’m not ready to change”, or do we embrace what has been placed before us, trusting that God will never push us beyond our limits, but instead, opens doors that allow us to grow into the best version of ourselves?
The “not quite right feeling” is God being pesky! When I feel like this, I want to rant and rave...”just tell me what you want me to do...Send someone to give me the answer...let me out of this grumpy, dissatisfied place!” I tend to find that while the ranting might give me some short-term comfort, it rarely yields the solutions to my discomfort.
When we approach moments of “not-quite–rightness” with a prayerful presence though, the solution usually surfaces without too much grief. Sometimes these solutions are difficult ones that require us to radically adjust our lifestyle, but oftentimes they are the simple call to respond to a particular situation or person with greater humility and care than we might otherwise have done. God’s wisdom then is to let our restlessness lead us to greater happiness and a fuller life. Doors open when we listen to our restless hearts and respond with courage. Like a deep wound, if we ignore what is stirring in our heart, it does not go away, but leads us deeper into resentment and irritation with our lives.
But how do we address the “not-quite-rightness”? Truthfully, there are as many ways as there are souls on this earth! Many people meditate, others journal (like a letter to God). Some, who find it hard to prioritise the quiet time to prayerfully discern what it is God is asking of them on their own, enlist the help of others – a trusted ear or a professional counsellor. Some go to the Gospels, others to the Spiritual masters.
Whatever your style, cultivating a method for discerning the calls of God is what allows us to create a life where doors are always opening and we are constantly scanning the horizon for where we can next set our course. Socrates declared that “an unexamined life is not worth living”. Our God, who calls to our hearts in every moment of every day so that we might experience life to the full, would surely concur.
Peace & Blessings Kate Fogarty Director of Catholic Identity
Living the Good News