Tools for Discernment: Gathering Evidence

There are various tools which we can use when we are discerning God’s call in our lives. One of those tools is to gather the facts, to gather the evidence. As we discern, we need to look at our abilities and limitations–spiritual, mental, and physical. Gathering such evidence can be hard work, but it’s important to try to obtain all the pertinent facts that are available to us.

Some questions you might ask yourself in order to reflect on your experience include:

• What is the most life-giving choice for me right now?
• Where is my deepest desire?
• What are my gifts?
• What are my commitments?
• What do I hear God saying?
• What motives are driving me to choose one choice over another?
• When/where do I feel a gentle nudge or a tug toward a choice?
• What do people who know me say about my gifts and abilities?
• Where am I resisting God’s invitations?
• If I were on my deathbed, what choice would I wish that I had made?

These would be good questions to share with a spiritual director, someone who can listen to you and what’s happening in your life and in your prayer and who can help you keep your focus on what God is asking of you at this time. If you don’t have a spiritual director, consider contacting your pastor, campus minister, or diocesan office to ask for a list of trained spiritual directors in your area. As we gather the evidence of our lives, we need to ask ourselves how open we truly are. Do I have an agenda? Or can I present God with a blank check, and let God fill in the amount? Sometimes I need to let go of whatever my plan happens to be and be able to give God a blank check, not one that I’ve already filled in.

However, while it is important that I can present God with a blank check, I also need to be able to set some kind of overall goal and purpose in life. The two are not necessarily contradictory. I need to remain open and willing to go with whatever God unfolds before me, but I also need to know what my basic purpose in life is. Jesus has told us in the Gospels that our ultimate purpose in life is to love one another. So, as I discern throughout my life, I need to ask myself: What choices can I make to help me be the most loving person I can be?

As we discern choices in life, we need to look at all the information and weigh our choices carefully. Who am I? Who have I been? We need to learn to read our own lives for the clues that can help us discern what God desires for us. One way to reflect on our lives that can help us prepare to discern is to make a time line of our life story.

Take some paper and markers and reflect on your life journey, from birth to the present. Reflect on these questions and include this information on your timeline:

• Who have been the significant people in my life and what impact have they made on me?
• What has been the experience of my education?
• What do I do in my leisure time?
• What’s my work history? What have I learned through my various jobs or positions?
• Who taught me to pray? Who is God for me now? How do I nurture my relationship with God?
• How have I made other decisions in my life? Is there a pattern to how I make good decisions?

As you reflect on your life, pay attention to the gifts God has given you. Consider how you are called to put those into use today and in the future!