The Divine Will: 3 Stages of the Spiritual Life

“Thy will be done,” which every Christian prays at least once a day, is perhaps the most difficult petition of the Lord’s Prayer. It demands that a person put aside their own selfish wishes and trust in a higher plan. (Read John 6:67.)

St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote: “All our perfection consists in the love of our infinitely lovable God. But the full perfection of love consists in the union of our will with the divine will.”

This is illustrated in the writings of St. Faustina Kowalska:

The priest spoke these profound words to me: “There are three degrees in the accomplishment of God’s will: in the first, the soul carries out all rules and statutes pertaining to external observance; in the second degree, the soul accepts interior inspirations and carries them out faithfully; in the third degree, the soul, abandoned to the will of God, allows Him to dispose of it freely, and God does with it as He pleases, and it is a docile tool in His hands.” (Diary, 444)

These three degrees form a practical ladder of spiritual ascent.

What does this mean in practice for a Christian?

STAGE ONE

Here the soul faithfully observes God’s Commandments and the Precepts of the Church. If we never advance beyond this point, however, we may find that much purification still awaits us in Purgatory. (Read Matthew 5:20.)

STAGE TWO

Here the soul responds to God’s interior promptings and follows them with faithful obedience.

An inspiration is an actual grace of the Holy Spirit, enlightening the mind to perceive what God asks of us, what is pleasing to Him, and what He abhors. 

God grants this grace to every person, though not in equal measure, for He is sovereign in the distribution of His gifts. Therefore, anyone who imagines that it can be attained by strength of will or the power of the intellect is mistaken. Grace often comes when we least expect it. 

Our greatest concern should be to discern God’s will in every moment.  

We encounter it in the Sacraments; in the reading of Sacred Scripture; while listening to sermons or taking part in a retreat; in silent adoration of the Blessed Sacrament; in the counsel of the priest while making Confession; in the words of a spiritual director; in the painful words of a spouse; or through either joyful or sorrowful events. By joy God raises up the discouraged, and through the Cross and suffering He likewise draws the soul powerfully to Himself.

At times, these graces act with astonishing swiftness. Like a flash of lightning, they illumine the soul and, in a single moment, shatter hearts as hard and proud as the cedars of Lebanon, bringing about a sudden conversion. At other times, these divine inspirations come gently and quietly, like the whisper of a soft breeze. (Cześć Maryi, O Pobudkach I Srodkach Nabożeństwa, Do Najświętszej Maryi Panny, KS. Jakub Górka)

Their action is always accompanied by inner peace and spiritual joy, though the latter may persist only for a fleeting moment. The Evil One, who never ceases to imitate the Creator, possesses neither God’s peace nor spiritual joy. He can, however, produce a false peace and a false joy. Yet the soul should not be discouraged by this, for with time it learns to distinguish the one from the other. (Read Matthew 7:16.)

Since the Blessed Virgin Mary was free from the wound of original sin, she possessed the full capacity to distinguish good from evil and, consequently, to follow the interior inspirations of God. This does not mean that she was spared sufferings or interior darkness. Therefore, after a good Confession and the reception of Holy Communion, we are most open to the interior inspirations of the Holy Spirit.

For the soul that desires holiness but has not yet advanced far along the path to perfection, the absence of such inspirations may be a sign that it ought to go to Confession. Human pride may tempt us to think that we are experiencing the dark night of the senses, but that is not the case. 

Following Mary’s example, let us learn to respond promptly—and even with holy haste—to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. (Read Luke 1:39–56.)

Does this suffice for a Christian to avoid Purgatory? I doubt it.

Before the soul reaches the mystical union with God, it cannot possess absolute certainty that every interior inspiration expresses God’s will. It must walk by faith, not by sight, discerning with humility, obedience, prudence, and trust in Divine Providence. Only in transforming union do the soul’s will and God’s will become habitually conformed, though even then this does not amount to personal infallibility. (Read Proverbs 24:16.)

STAGE THREE

Here the soul, surrendered to the Will of God, allows Him to guide and dispose of it according to His good pleasure, as Blessed Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko also exhorts us from Heaven.

It soon becomes evident that it is not enough to make a single act of surrender to Jesus, as St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort clearly teaches:

Every year at least, on the same date, they should renew the consecration following the same exercises for three weeks. They might also renew it every month or even every day by saying this short prayer: “I am all yours and all I have is yours, O dear Jesus, through Mary, your holy Mother.”

Each day, as soon as the soul awakens, let it make an act of complete abandonment to Jesus. It may do so in its own words or by using the meditation on the Passion of Christ, recorded by the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta, praying as follows:

Beloved Jesus, today I surrender to You my will; dispose of me in whatever way most pleases You. I give You my eyes, that they may behold all things as You behold them. I give You my ears, that they may hear only what You desire them to hear. I give You my tongue, that it may speak only what You would speak. I give You my hands, that they may accomplish only what You Yourself would accomplish. I give You my feet, that they may walk only where You lead them. I give You my memory, that I may remember what You desire me to remember. I give You my understanding, that I may think of others as You think of them. And at last, as Luisa so beautifully expresses it: “I stretch out my arms to embrace You, I rest my head upon Your Heart, and I begin.”

Thus, little by little, the soul is transformed into the likeness of Christ. She discovers with quiet amazement how often the choices she makes prove to be the right ones. At times, the soul suddenly remembers what she would ordinarily have forgotten; at other times she forgets something she would almost never neglect, only to discover later that there had been no need to do it at all.

Such things come to pass because Jesus lovingly enters even the most ordinary affairs of her daily life. This does not mean that her path becomes free from crosses or trials. Rather, He sanctifies the commonplace, guiding the soul with a wisdom that surpasses her own. In this way she falls far less frequently into venial sins, grows to abhor mortal sin with her whole heart, and advances ever more deeply in the love of God, whose Divine Will becomes her delight. 

Reflecting on the theme of God’s will, it is important to emphasize that human nature, wounded by original sin, is naturally inclined to distrust God. The Evil One continually seeks to frighten us with suffering, for he is most eager to prevent us from surrendering ourselves entirely to God. Yet, only a few of us are granted the grace of becoming victim souls.

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