Discernment of God's Will: Does the Fear of Losses Hold us Back?

Today’s Gospel, Jn 16: 20-23, opens with Jesus saying to us: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.”  Of course, he is talking to His disciples just prior to His return to His Father in heaven.  However, we might look at this passage in light of discernment.  Many times, I wonder whether what holds us back from  embracing God’s will, or from taking the action we know God is calling us to take, are our efforts, conscious or unconscious, to avoid what we perceive will be our losses.  Grief is painful and perhaps we are holding back for those reasons.

Of what loss/es am I afraid?  That might be the question that I need to answer if I am going to move forward in accord with God’s will whether that be embracing the vocation to which I am called or something as simple, and complex, as stopping a behavior that is not healthy for me!