Discernment: The ability to be able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure….
So the story goes a man was on top of a house escaping the local river overflowing to epic proportions…. He prayed to God to be rescued….Shortly thereafter a fireman in a row-boat drifted by and offered to take him in…The pious man replied: no thanks! The Lord promised to save me…. Then a helicopter swung by with an army reservist and pleaded for the prayerful man to jump on board…but he replied again: leave me alone! My Lord promised to save me….. Well, as the faithful man reached the pearly gates he complained to the Lord and said: you promised to save me! And the Lord admonished him by saying: Why are you complaining! I sent you a row-boat and a helicopter!
We men are trained to be hunters since the caveman days. We are sent out to the world to chase the dinosaur, kill it and bring it back home. So it’s tough to balance the need to provide for one’s family, while relying on God’s plan….Yet there lies the perfect Catholic life. That balance is what brings harmony and repose to our lives. As we get closer to our Lord and lay our concerns, worries, plans and dreams on the foot of His cross; our worries melt away because we know He has a perfect plan.
For the past year I’ve been praying to St. Joseph for his intercession to bring more financial stability to my life. I’ve placed my financial concerns at the foot of our Lord’s cross and have been at peace with my current employment situation. Then out of nowhere I receive another employment opportunity for more money. What to do? Was this the rowboat and helicopter from the Lord answering my prayers? Or was the Evil One confusing me and dangling financial temptations my way? I interviewed with the other employer as my life depended on it …I went to hit a grand slam and shortly thereafter received a job offer….
Discernment: The ability to be able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure….
Well, a pay increase in certainly not obscure! But the intangibles sometimes are……… Because I try to be in the spirit by attending daily Mass, stay in community with my Emmaus brothers and trust in His plan, I was able to discern what He wanted me to do….The other job would have kept me in an office 12 hours a day for more money. While at my current employer I am traveling within the community and have ample room for professional growth….I can also spend more time with my younger daughter, after having squandered that opportunity with my oldest….all important intangibles that after all…. are not that obscure!
I met with my boss and explained I had another offer – but that it was my choice to commit to his vision for his company. He certainly appreciated the loyalty; loyalty that he had shown me before and I know he will show again in the future…
The Lord wants his children to live happy and prosperous lives as long as the daily focus is on serving Him. I am convinced discernment involves feeling good inside about the decisions we make. If the decision made is to serve Him and not our own desires, it will feel good and you will feel at peace! Right now I feel good and am at peace and will continue to trust in His Perfect Plan for my life!
in Deo confido
A Catholic Man 
I realize that you are Catholic, but if you’d pray directly to the Lord God, instead of to St. Joseph, I feel that you would get better results and feel the spirit of the Lord more strongly. Your title wa strange–Why is it so hard to trust in Him. It would be harder not to. It would be an impossible life. I won’t bother you on here again, but I can’t see anywhere in the bible that says to pray to a Saint, but I can see many places that say to pray directlyto God, ion His Son, Jeses’s name. We are his “children” and we have the right to talk to Him, directly,l , as well as the only way to get to Him. I realize that this seems to be no part of most Catholic’s life…pity! Pero, te quero, hermoano, in Jesu Cristo. y seguro que el Dios te quiere egual come me quiere. Helen
I don’;t want to be on Face Book or any of the others.
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