Discerning God's will

By  Lauren Van Vliet, Youth Speak News
  • February 21, 2008

It’s easy to say that being in Grade 12 has been one of the best years so far in my life. But the pressure is on. Second semester is underway and the next steps are just around the corner.

For me, the next step is university, a place that will cost me thousands of dollars to attend and where I will spend four or more years of my life. I want to make the best choice possible. The university I choose has to meet my needs. I’d like to be close to my family and friends, and not in a massive city. Living in Atlantic Canada, it’s not hard to find a university that’s close to my family and friends and not in a massive city. There are so many choices, but it’s hard to narrow it down.

In October, when my high school hosted a university fair, I picked up books from every booth. I picked out my favourites based on the books, then looked at the prices, factored in distance and gas, and discovered none of them were right for me price-wise.

That night I prayed, asking God to show me the right university. As I waited for God’s help, I continued looking at universities and asked my friends who were already in university why they liked the school they were attending.

My answer came from a unique place: my mother. She had read all the university books I picked up cover to cover. Her ideal university was one that I had completely overlooked. In the end, the University of Prince Edward Island fit all my criteria.

This is just one example of how God talks to me in my everyday life. I don’t always feel close to Him when I pray. I’m just not always open to hearing Him. He hears me every time though. He doesn’t always tell me point-blank what He wants from me, but He never fails to get His point across.

Sometimes I don’t like the answer. Sometimes when I’m looking for the easy way out, God wants me to take the harder route. Through it all, He never leaves my side. I find peace in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us who can be against us?” God will never leave us to face the world alone. We just need to open up to Him and let Him in.

Everyday He gives me opportunities to do His will. He presents them to me in many different ways: e-mails about activities from friends, peer-leadership opportunities and acquaintances in my classes. He speaks to me through the Bible, the Mass and, most of all, prayer.

In first Jeremiah 29:13 it says: “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” When we try to find God talking to us with our whole hearts He will get His point across to His followers in whatever way He has to. We just need to be open to what He has to say to us.

(Van Vliet, 17, is a Grade 12 student at Three Oaks Senior High School in Summerside, P.E.I.)

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