There’s an irony about the power that lies within each of us. You might think you need “The Secret” to tap into it. Yet, it’s not confidence that we need, nor an external resource. We were created with every good gift we need to fulfill our purpose. What is your unique purpose? It is your specific role in God’s project in the world. So contrary to the thinking that the dream is yours, and you need to acquire from external sources the means to achieve it, remember that God placed that desire within you as part of a bigger plan, and He wants to provide by using the gifts He has already planted deep within your soul.

So, it’s time to flip everything you think you know. The world teaches about manifesting and encourages abundance. God teaches about providing and His abundance is hidden in plain sight. The world promotes “mind shifts” and overcoming “blocks.” God’s way is through perseverance and patient trust. Despite all the world’s offerings on confident leadership, the only true way to lead is with humility. The world encourages trainings, conferences, online programs and self-help books. God has sent His son to die for us so we can be free from the jaws of human initiative. We live in a time where we think we need to make a name for ourselves in order to be relevant. Yet, haven’t we been there before? Have we learned anything from Genesis 11:1-9?

“Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves…” -Genesis 11:4

God disrupted the work, confused the common language of the people, and scattered them all over the world. The moral of the story is, we are not supposed to make a name for ourselves. We were created to glorify God, not ourselves. Even though this tendency is so prevalent today, people are not making the connection and the pursuit to be known becomes a form of idolatry. We are more confused and afraid than ever in a world that promotes the individual as his own god.

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” -2 Timothy 3:1-5

Do you recognize any of these patterns in our world today? Yes, me too. Yet, making a name for ourselves on social media is not necessarily God’s plan for us. He can and will work through you despite the number of followers you have. We must be detached from outcomes if we truly want to harness the power within to discover His project for you in the world.

As you try to discern God’s will for your own life, you might find yourself caught up in the confusion of what the world is encouraging you to do. Note here the sense of confusion. St. Ignatius of Loyola teaches in discernment of spirits that there are two standards: the world’s standard and God’s standard. We were meant for so much more than this world. Remember, Jesus told us that His kingdom was not of this world. So how do we reconcile the two? Start by cultivating an interior silence. Little by little divorce yourself of the external noise that occupies your life in the form of podcasts, You Tube videos, television, and electronics. This will likely be quite challenging at first and there’s a reason for that. When the enemy discovered just what Jesus had done by way of the Resurrection and the powerful graces that held for mankind, he set out to thwart the innumerable graces gained for us by the Passion of Christ. While the enemy is astute, we as mere mortals can be very lukewarm and careless. If the condition of the world right now is not enough to convince you, at least take note of what truly happened historically in Jesus’ time. Consider everything He accomplished for us! He knew what He had to do for us in order to preserve us, so He left us a Church with sacraments to remedy the ails and dangers His people would be faced with. We simply have to seek the grace and accept it.

Accepting grace means also acting on it. If God’s only son suffered, who are we to think there is any other example that will lead us to salvation? Yet, over time, we have easily forgotten the blessings of the Redemption by way of the cross. We’ve allowed the grace to get crowded out and pushed aside by the fascination with social media, electronics, tv, culture, and the opinions of those not schooled in faith. Notice the leaders rising up out of this world to lead, but we have been forewarned. All of this has fueled an unholy pride and with each one that falls under the spell of worldly pleasure and distraction, great damage is done to our spiritual lives and our Church as a whole. What has become so attractive is the pursuit of glory and riches. We cannot buy into the lie that this is God’s plan for us because the Son of God, our sole role model, was not born into a castle with all of the finest things. He was born in poverty. He led a life of detachment and service. His leadership was true leadership because everything in Him pointed to the Father. So, if you must look outside of yourself for clarity and direction as you are learning to begin to look within, be sure to notice the humble vs. the proud, the authentic vs. the arrogant and those leaders pointing to themselves instead of God, the Father. The distinction here is that today we are encouraged to be the center of our lives, when only God should be the center. If a leader is promoting this, beware! According to Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen in his book Divine Intimacy, he states, “ It would be a true sin of pride to interfere with the divine plans.”

Where do we go from here? The world with all of its attractions and constant pull is insatiable. However, God’s secret, that power within, is found in the living water he promises will quench our thirst. What this means is, while our thirst for worldly desires is quenched by this living water, the fire of love activates within us and burns away the worldly temptations. God replaces the desire for things of this earth with the grace to seek as we should a more contemplative place within us, where the heart of Christ resides, and gives us a glimpse of the eternal. It only takes one foretaste of this living water to begin to let go of the earthly things. This is what keep us on the path of simplicity and humility in our pursuit of Truth.

The point of this is to recognize the power of Jesus in our lives! “Be still and know that I am God,” He tells us. This power within us is what will enable us to fulfill God’s will for each our lives. When we attempt to go about this on our own, or any other way apart from God, fear and anxiety creep in, because we are not in alignment with who we were created to be. If you don’t what God’s will is for you or how to discover it in your own life, or even if the whole thing terrifies you, stay with me. We will get to that. Up next? Fear…..