“There’s a lot of things we go through and we don’t even know why. At the end of the day, God has a purpose and a plan for you, and that’s kind of how I take that.” ~ Morgan Wallen
I wanted to be a fireman. I wanted to be a fireman so bad. I thought that the firetrucks were “way cool” and that riding on one of them for a living would have been fun. Hey, what did I know? I was only five at the time.
I wanted to be a truck driver. I wanted to be a truck driver so bad. I thought driving a big rig on the roads as well as delivering goods would be really neat. After all, that’s all truck drivers did, right? Drive on the road, stop at places, and have other people offload their trucks. Hey, what did I know? I was only seven or eight at the time.
I wanted to be a musician. I wanted to play in orchestras, write music, and make people happy. Musicians have fun and relatively carefree lives, or so I thought. Hey, what did I know? That was a high school fantasy.
I wanted to be a fireman, a truck driver, an ambulance driver, a teacher, a musician, a business owner, a nurse practitioner, a doctor, and a whole host of other things in my life. God, on the other hand, seemed to have a different plan for my life and He bided His time, waiting patiently on the sidelines until the time was ripe to send someone into my life and tell me.
Sr. Grace Clemens, OSF, was our Director of Religious Education at St. Mary’s in Griffith. When I was in the first semester of my senior year in high school, after I had been accepted to study music at Ball State University, she said, “Mike, you’d make a good priest.” I laughed at her and went to tell the priests at the parish. They looked at me and said, “She’s right. You really should consider it.”
God has a plan for each and every one of us. He bides His time and waits until the right moment to tell us. However, we still need to be willing to consider His purpose and His plan. Even though I laughed at Sr. Grace, I took her comment to the associate and my pastor (who was also our vocation director). I took it to pretty intense prayer as well, trying to discern God’s will for me.
My discernment went through eight years of seminary with a year off between college and theology. Nine years praying and discerning if God was calling me to the priesthood. Ultimately, I believed He was, indeed, calling me. The reason for this lengthy story is quite simple, God has a purpose and a plan for each and every one of us. Sometimes it’s immediately apparent. Sometimes it takes a while to discover. Keep asking Him. He’ll let you know.
FAITH ACTION: Ask God what His plan is for you and respond when you discern it.