God’s Influence on Our Will

10-05-2025Weekly ReflectionJen Arnold, M.A.

The past two weeks I have written about how we can discern between the voices that influence our thinking by identifying the hallmarks of both God’s and Satan’s influences on our intellects. Once we determine which of our thoughts are coming from the Stranger, we can more quickly and easily reject them so we can focus on the voice of the Good Shepherd that breaks through the darkness in our intellects caused by original sin. Of course, the work does not end with our thoughts. We must make choices and act on those thoughts. This week, continuing to draw from the wisdom of Fr. Cliff Ermatinger's book, Who's Speaking: Discerning the Good Shepherd's Voice from that of the Stranger, we will examine the hallmarks of God’s influence on the will. Next week, we’ll cover the hallmarks of the demonic influence on the will.

Before we get into the hallmarks of God’s influence on the will, we need a fundamental understanding of what the will is, how it works, and why its formation is important. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions. God wills that man should be left in the hand of his own counsel, so that he might on his own accord seek his Creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him. (CCC #1730, emphasis added)

God gave us the gift of free will so that we may freely choose to turn to him in love. If our will was not free and we were forced to be in relationship with God, it would not be authentic love. Because God loves us so deeply and wants us to turn to him, he gives us little promptings in the form of actual graces. If we respond to those graces with our will as actions that move us toward him, he will meet us where we are with cooperative grace, which gives us the strength to keep moving forward. So, while our will is free, it is also weak. The more we respond to God’s fortifying grace, the stronger our will becomes and the more conformed to Christ we become. The key to holiness is in the will, not the intellect, which Fr. Ermatinger says is a relief because, “Otherwise, only the geniuses could become holy. But our Lord has made it that even the simple — especially the simple — can be holy if they should but will it.”

Finally, what we do with our will reveals much about our identity as Christians. We Catholics are often accused of having many rules — even by Catholics! Remember that Jesus’ own will was perfectly conformed to his Father’s will. “I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me” (Jn 6:38). Our rules are not about what we do, but who we are. They reveal a filial relationship between us and God as our will and conduct is conformed to his holy will. Our love for God is revealed in our will. “If you love me, keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15). So, when viewed appropriately, rules or commandments are not burdens, but something to be embraced because they are giving us a foretaste of heaven when our hearts, minds, and wills will be truly and fully united to God’s. Let us now review the characteristics of God’s influence on our wills.

Peace

Peace is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and it is contrary to God’s nature to cause anxiety or confusion. If your decision or action comes with peace, it is a good indication your will was influenced by God. However, while God does not cause anxiety, keep in mind that he does rebuke, warn, and reveal one’s faults. If you are truly seeking the will of God, these things will not trouble you, rather, they will gently humble you and lead you to reform and conversion.

Sincere Humility

St. Thomas Aquinas says, “The virtue of humility consists in keeping oneself within one’s own bounds, not reaching out to things above oneself, but submitting to one’s superior.” Humility is also knowing that nothing you do is by your own power, but by the grace of God alone. When you recognize your littleness before God, you are acting in humility.

Firm Confidence in God Balanced by Fear of God

Fear of God is fear of offending the loving Father who has been so good to us, not a fear of punishment. Appropriate fear of God is borne out of love for him and causes us to act in a way that will not disappoint him. As this gift is strengthened in us, we become more repulsed by sin, and we grow in holiness and reverence for God. Then, as we grow in reverence for God, our trust and confidence in the good things he does for us grows. “Confidence needs to be balanced by piety — a filial fear of offending God. They balance each other out: fear without confidence leads to pusillanimity and confidence without fear is presumption.”

A Flexible Will

When we are under the influence of the Holy Spirit, he may move our will in a way that is unexpected or unfamiliar to us. When we resist, we are placing our own will above God’s. Remember that God can use unexpected things, people, and situations to draw us closer to him.

Purity of Intention

This is where we ask ourselves what our motivations are. Are they rooted in self-love and our own interests, or are they to seek God and give him glory?

Patience

With regard to God’s influence on the will, patience refers to how well we suffer and endure trials. Patience is not steeling your will and resigning yourself to suffering, nor is patience telling everyone all about how much you’re suffering. Patience is the fruit of a spiritual maturity that quietly embraces the bittersweetness of suffering the way Christ embraced his cross, knowing its redemptive value.

Mortification of One’s Interior

Due to original sin, our human nature drives our passions toward immoderation. Of course, we each have our particular vices — vanity, lust, pride, ambition, etc. — but whatever they are, we take them too far. It is one thing not to act on these things, but it is quite another to work to reorder our interior hearts regarding these things, which is an act of the will. When we renounce our passions, we are renouncing their control over us and handing that “control over to Christ, who brings to us interior order and peace of the interior self, its faculties, and passions.”

Sincerity and Simplicity of Heart

“A man is raised up from the earth by two wings — simplicity and purity. There must be simplicity in his intention and purity in his desires. Simplicity leads to God; purity embraces and enjoys him.” (The Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis)

Liberty of Spirit

True freedom does not mean the freedom to choose between good and bad. When the Spirit of the Lord is with your will, you experience true freedom by being liberated from the bondage of sin. When you have endured enough trials in life and suffered the consequences of enough sin, you finally recognize your nothingness without God and abandon yourself to him and his will. At this point, you are gladly asking God to reveal his will to you, and you will humbly accept it knowing it is the path to real freedom.

Desire of Imitation of Christ

This hallmark of God’s influence on the will is the continual desire to die to oneself in order to promote the good of others. To imitate Christ in your will is to place love of others over self-love. “The degree of our love for God is measured by the degree of our love for our neighbor.”

Meek, Benign, Detached Charity

When you do the will of God, you will often encounter adversity, anger, injustice, persecution, and so on. When God is with you, and you are truly doing his will, these things will not affect you. Fr. Ermatinger cites an example of St. Paul travelling on dangerous journeys, being stoned, scorned, imprisoned, and eventually beheaded, all to preach the gospel to as many people as possible. Not only did he never give up, but he also continued with joy and peace in his heart. St. Thérèse counseled a fellow nun saying, “Whenever anyone exasperates you even to the point of making you angry, the way to regain peace of soul is pray for that person and to ask God to reward her for giving you an opportunity to suffer.” Remember that any satisfaction we receive from righteous anger or justice is fleeting and earthly and that lasting justice lies in the hands of our heavenly Father.

Think of a current situation you are dealing with or a decision you are trying to make where you have to carefully discern what action or actions to take. Evaluate the situation and your options using the hallmarks of God’s influence on your will. Can you identify where your own will might oppose God’s will? Sit quietly in prayer, preferably in the adoration chapel, and ask God to help you let go of any barriers that are keeping you from fully surrendering to his will. Can you freely choose to cooperate with the gift of grace and follow the Good Shepherd?