What It's Like To Get It Right

In 2007, I took a long-term substitute teaching position at a Catholic school. One day, while talking to the 8th grade class, the subject of knowing (and following) God's will came up.

How do you know what you're supposed to do?

I admitted to the class that, sometimes, you don't know. You have to pray - a lot. Get help from people who know you well, who love you deeply - but make sure they love God even more. Make sure they want God's will for themselves every bit as much as they want it for you.

And then, think about a gorgeous plot of grass. The plushiest grass you've ever seen. Imagine that you are standing on the edge of this perfect yard. You're staring at the green lawn in front of you. And as you look ahead, you see a footprint begin to form about eighteen inches in front of you. Don't rush to lift up your feet and step into the footprint. Wait for it to form a little more clearly. There it is, a perfect imprint of your own foot, even though you haven't put your foot into the grass yet. Now - pick up your foot now - and place it in that print. Once you have done that, you will notice that another imprint is forming just ahead. And you begin to see where you are supposed to go. What you are supposed to do . . . one footstep at a time.

That is what it's like to get it right. To have a sense of what God wants from you. You won't always see all the way to the journey's end. But you will see what you are to do right now.

The imprint you see is the exact shape of your foot, but you didn't make the impression in the grass. God did. He did it so you would know where to step. And He rarely gives you more than a step or two at a time. Because of this, you will remain vigilant and malleable and submissive and detached from your own ideas.

It keeps you waiting on Him.

I will wait upon the Lord, I'll not move 'til he calls. I'll not run lest I fall. I will wait on the one I adore. (From "I Will Wait Upon The Lord" lyrics written byAllen Asbury, inspired by Sacred Scripture.)