Discernment: The Challenge of Dealing with Opposition

Discernment:  When we are seeking to know God’s will for us, in the smallest of decisions to weightier ones, Satan has a way of seeking to derail us, to move us off the path to which God is beckoning us.  In today’s first reading, Jeremiah 20: 10-13, the prophet’s friends were seeking ways to trap him.  They wanted to put him to death, in fact.  There are many ways in which people attack our spirit, ways in which they seek to discourage us, place doubts in our minds.  Jeremiah remained steadfast in doing what God was calling him to do. He states: “…the Lord is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.”

Where did Jeremiah get this strength in face of rising opposition?  The only way to survive onslaughts  and opposing forces is through a personal relationship with God, a relationship nurtured by daily prayer and meditation upon the Word of God, the Scriptures. Even when we are sure we are on the right path and “a wrench “ is thrown in our way—a “window” or “a door” is closed--and we need to look for a new direction, it is only God who will sustain us and who,  through the Spirit in humble prayer, redirects us and opens our hearts to consider other possibilities to which God wants us to turn. There is no other way unless, when our will is thwarted, we resort to blaming and complaining and throwing stones at those whom we think have blocked us, not recognizing that God does use human instruments to redirect us to what, in God’s mind, is a better option for us.