Did you know that God is seeking you? Yes, you. The very one reading this blog post. God seeks each one of us in the midst of our everyday life, not necessarily in a lightening bolt or a choir of angels or a miraculous alignment of clouds. Here’s a selection from the book May I Have This Dance?: An Invitation to Faithful Prayer Throughout the Year
How do we know when God is seeking us out? Many times God is seeking us when we sense the following:
- restlessness within or an unnamed loneliness
- a hunger for bonding
- questions that keep surfacing
- sudden awareness or clearer vision about life’s meaning
- an unexpected sense of deep contentment or peace
- darkness that has the aura of mystery or searching
- a desire for greater truth
- a hopefulness that rises in one’s spirit
- a yearning for justice
- an overwhelming awareness of God’s mystery
- a bonding with beauty
Sensing God’s calling to us is a first movement. How we respond to God is a next question.
How do we know when we are seeking God out? Again it is not always a known or certain thing, but some aspects I [Joyce Rupp] have experienced are:
- willingness to sit and listen with the unnamed stirrings within
- the disciplines of reflecting, pondering, meditating
- confrontation of fears, anxieties, concerns
- deliberate decisions to go deeper
- owning and claiming one’s inherent goodness
- savoring the beauty of creation
- entering into situations that involve risk and struggle
- actively bonding with a community or others who seek God
- welcoming the goodness in others
Read more of the article Seek and Find (National Catholic Reporter, June 4, 2010).
Sister Joyce Rupp, a Catholic sister belonging to the Servites (aka Servants of Mary), ministers as a writer, spiritual and retreat leader, and hospice volunteer.
What questions do you have about how God is seeking you out or how you might respond? What have you experienced in your walk with God?
Archived Comments
Cherylene June 7, 2010 at 6:06 am
Wow.. are you reading my mind or something?! I’m about the “confrontation” phase of my response.. not sure when I’ll go further than that – for now the life pact is to experience the ‘joys’ of working and continue developing over the year. At least I’m walking in more or less the ‘right’ direction now
Jeannie June 7, 2010 at 11:05 am
Nice Cherylene, for me I’m all about savoring the beauty of creation and an overwhelming awareness of God’s mystery. Thanks for a great article SJ
