Key to Making Decisions when Faced with Good Options

Monk Mindset for Living Well

Monk Mindset 7

Discern Carefully, Commit Confidently: Making Decisions

Reflection on the Monk Mindset & Quote

During my Novitiate year in the monastery, I was in charge of the refectory (aka the kitchen) – keeping it clean, keeping food in the pantry, etc. 

My chore one afternoon was to mop the refectory. Father James, an older Irish Carmelite in his 70s (and one of the wisest men I knew) walked by and invited me to sit in on a class he was teaching during the same time I was supposed to mop. I would have preferred to go to the class and honor his invitation but I didn't know what the right thing to do was.

I began to look concerned and puzzled. I explained to Father James my predicament - that I wanted to attend the class but I was supposed to clean. 

He chuckled and looked intently at me and said, “Just remember. Whatever you decide, THAT’s God's will for you.”

Deeply confused and a little appalled by this statement, I became even more puzzled. I spent the following weeks and months trying to understand what he meant. Here’s what I’ve come up with: 

The best decision in the moment or “God’s will for us” isn’t some Platonic ideal. It’s not like God has some perfect thing for us and if we just figure that out, all will be well. 

Instead, He’s given us free will – to make choices between bad and good, and sometimes between two or more good options. This was a case where I had to choose between two good things – going to his class OR mopping the floor. Both were good. And I was empowered to choose. 

And God would be with me in either decision and therefore it would be “His will”.*

*It’s important to note that this statement only really applies when we are discerning between good things. If we are discerning between something that is destructive or bad for us, others or even God, it’s not really “God’s will" because he would never want us to choose something that’s destructive, though He does allow it. Because He gave us free will.  :)

Put It Into Practice This Week

Are you putting off deciding between two good things in your life? 

If so, name it, and find a time this week to decide and trust God will be right there with you.

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