Dear Reader,

When you hear the words "the Will of God," what do you feel in your body? What thoughts come up?

I remember when I was 26 years old and my younger brother was tragically killed at only 24. "Why did he die? Why did God take him when he was so young?" I remember asking my mother, who said to me, "Well, it was God's Will."

I heard the same explanation when my father passed away, when there was a big earthquake, or when a plane fell from the sky. Whatever the loss or tragedy, the Will of God was always at fault, as if some big man up in the sky had made a decision without consulting us first. So whenever I heard those words, I felt helpless, and the thought in my head was, "There's nothing you can do about it."

THIS WEEK'S REFLECTION

Understanding How the Will of God Works

In the sense I am using it here, will is an expression of power. When we say we don't have the willpower to get out of bed, we mean we don't have the strength or the capacity to do it. The spiritual teachings that have shaped my understanding describe God through three primary qualities: love, wisdom, and power. So when we speak about the Will of God, we are essentially speaking about the power of God, the energy of God, life itself moving through the entire creation.

I see a parallel in Taoism, one of China's ancient spiritual traditions, and its understanding of the Tao, which means the Way. I think of this natural flow of life when I see a seed send down roots, grow, flower, and eventually return to the earth. Living in harmony with that flow means working with life rather than continually struggling against it. When you push against it, trying to force life to follow your own demands, you suffer.

You can probably relate to moments in your own life when, out of impatience, insecurity, or fear, you tried to force something to happen, only to make a mess of it.

The late Dr. David Hawkins, whose work has had a profound impact on my life, once wrote that there is not a single moment when the Will of God is not unfolding. Life itself, and every moment of experience, is happening by the grace and through the Will of God. What changes, though, is how we perceive it, and that depends on our level of consciousness.

Think of these levels of consciousness as degrees of light. When you are caught in fear, guilt, anger, or shame, there is less light available to see by, so your view narrows and you cannot see the bigger picture. From that place, it is easy to feel like a victim of God's Will, as if everything is happening to you and there is nothing you can do about it.

As you move into willingness, acceptance, and love, your heart opens and more light becomes available, allowing you to see what you could not see before. You begin to recognize that life is doing what life has always done: growing, changing, transforming, and creating anew, with the Tao always at play even when you cannot yet understand where it is taking you. And as you align with this natural flow, you discover that you can participate in it, becoming a channel for that love, wisdom, and power to unfold through you.

THIS WEEK'S PRACTICE

GO DEEPER

When Willpower Fails: How to Invoke the Spiritual Will for Deep Transformation

Perhaps there is something in your life you sincerely want to change, a pattern you understand and have made a real commitment to move beyond. You have tried harder, started again, and promised yourself that this time will be different, yet you keep finding yourself back in the same place. What do you do when your own willpower is no longer enough?

Through my own life and my work coaching others, I have come to understand that there is a deeper source of strength available to us: the spiritual will. Learning to invoke it is how we begin to align our personal will with the greater Will of God and draw on that power for our own transformation. In the article, I walk you through the steps for invoking the spiritual will and explain how your heart helps you draw on this deeper strength when determination alone is no longer enough.

FINAL THOUGHTS

An Invitation To Surrender

Through the losses I have experienced in my life, I have come to understand that we cannot align with the Will of God, the greater flow of life, without surrendering our little will. That means letting go of our pride, our need to control, our fears, and whatever in us is resisting life as it unfolds.

Surrender does not mean giving up, because we are still responsible for our effort, even though we cannot control the results. If you are facing a health challenge, you still see a doctor, seek appropriate treatment, and care for your body. You do what you can to support your healing while letting go of the demand that it unfold exactly as you want it to.

That is the paradox I did not understand when my brother died: I could not undo what had happened, but I had the power within me to grow and transform through it, as I eventually did. I came to see even that loss as part of life's unfolding, carrying lessons I could not recognize at the time.

In closing, let me ask you: If the Will of God is always being done, how might that understanding change the way you see and respond to the challenges you are facing today?

From my heart to yours, Gabriel Gonsalves