Discerning God's Call

Discernment of God’s will is the process of choosing between two or more good options, seeking out the option that brings God the greatest glory through one’s life. Discernment does not mean choosing a good option over a bad option; rather it is choosing the best option based upon God’s call in your life. Perhaps you are discerning between full-time missionary work and a secular career. Both paths could give glory to God and bring about the salvation of souls! The question to discern then is which brings the most glory to God and is most profitable to the salvation of souls, including your own.

So how do you begin to discern whether or not you may be called to full-time missionary work with CCO?

Discernment of God’s will is built upon a relationship of communion, dependence and collaboration with God.

Communion

• Communion with God is a one-to-one personal relationship – God loving us, communicating with us and guiding us, while we listen and respond, loving Him and desiring to know how we can “exist for the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:12). To discern, Jesus Christ must be the centre of our lives.
• The presupposition to all discernment is that God is good and loves each one of us personally. Unless we believe that God is wholly good, we will have difficulty believing that His plans for us are good, in which case we may run from discernment out of fear that God’s plans will make us unhappy or not fulfill the desires of our heart. We must believe that God loves us and wishes to reveal His will to us – “ For I know well the plans I have in mind for you...plans for your welfare and not for woe, plans to give you a future full of hope” (Jeremiah 29:11)
• Meditate upon the heart of the Father as Jesus describes in Luke 11:9-13, the Father who has created each of us with a specific purpose, a call to greatness that only we can achieve. He desires to reveal His plan to you!

Dependence

• Throughout our discernment, we must depend utterly on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is characterized by an attitude of abandonment and docility. Pray the Apostles’ Prayer , meditate on the lines “I will go anywhere you want me to go, I will do anything you want me to do, I will say anything you want me to say.” Does this express the desire of your heart?
• Spend time in intimate prayer, laying your discernment before the Lord and asking for guidance. Trust the Lord to reveal His will to you when you come before Him with a heart that is abandoned to His will. What do you sense the Spirit is saying? What Scripture passages speak to you?

Collaboration

• Within our abandonment and dependence upon God to lead us, God also calls us to work with Him in discerning His will, using our natural resources of intellect, fellowship, memory etc.
• Become knowledgeable about the issue. Learn more about CCO, our charism, our work, our needs. You can find more information under The Movement, or you can talk to your local CCO staff member. If CCO isn’t in your city, then feel free to contact the Human Resources department at hr@cco.ca, or call us at 613.736.1999. Our role is to aid you in discernment so we truly welcome all inquires and questions!
• Ask for the counsel of people who know you well, people with good understanding of the situation you are discerning, and people who are mature in their faith and learned in listening to the Lord. Consider their opinions and any other suggestions they might have. We especially suggest seeking the guidance of a good spiritual director.
• Evaluate the situation for God’s glory by making a list of pros and cons. Evaluate the list prayerfully, weighing options based not on the number of pros and cons, but rather on the importance of them. Think of the situation in light of eternity: where can your life be the greatest investment for God and His people? Pay attention to which reasons draw your heart the most. Think about how God has spoken to you in the past. Often He will use similar ways again.

 

Scripture passages to pray through, dealing with...

Missionary Identity:

Isaiah 49: 1-7, Colossians 2:24-29, 2 Timothy 2:2, Ephesians 1:11-14, Matthew 28:18-20

Trusting the Lord:

Jeremiah 1:4-10, Matthew 9:35-37, Matthew 6:25-34, Jeremiah 29:11, Sirach 2:1-18, Romans 8:31

Abandonment to God’s Will: