How do we conform to God’s will?
First, keep His commandments. Secondly, let’s look at some practical examples:
In our daily lives
We can start to conform to God’s will by putting up with the daily annoyances such as words that would hurt our self-esteem, a barking dog, stubbing a toe, a light burning out, a pen that won’t write etc. We should accept whatever kind of weather God sends us. It’s not awful heat or terribly cold. It’s God’s weather. It is even more important to practice conformity to God’s will in the trivial things than larger ones both because they are more frequent, and they form the habit of supporting them in a Christian spirit to prepare for more serious difficulties.
Disasters or War
God of infinite Goodness would not send such disasters unless some great good were to result from them. Consider how many souls may be saves though the tribulations. How many people through affliction are converted to God? What appears to be a punishment is often a sign of grace and mercy. Let us meditate on this truth of our faith that the very hairs on our heads are numbered and not one of them will fall except by the will of God. We have nothing more or less to fear in times of calamity than at any other time. The only thing we need to be concerned about is gaining his favor by conforming to His will.
Loss of Employment or Money the Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away.
We should accept with the same conformity to the will of God the loss of employment or money and all other set-backs in our temporal affairs repeating with faith the words of Job: The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away. Christians were deprived of rank and position lost their possessions torn from their families, thrown into prison, and sent to execution all for their faith in Christ. They went their way rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer in the name of Jesus. It is the same regarding money matters. If it is God’s will be happy to sacrifice for the sake of God’s will.
In Poverty
We should conform to God’s will in poverty and all the inconveniences. It is not too hard to do so if we fully realize that God watches over us as a father over his children. He puts us in that condition because it is of most value to us. Are we not the children of the God of riches, the co-heirs of Christ? Being so, is there anything we can lack? Everything then is ours. We have everything God has to offer. But it is often necessary that we should be deprived of many things. Let us firmly believe that if anything is necessary or really useful for us, our all-powerful Father will give it to us without fail. The Lord said: If you evil as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father…? (Luke 11:13 )
Do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat He tells us, nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you of much more value than they?… And as for clothing, why are you anxious? Consider how the lilies of the field grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which flourishes today but tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more you, O you of little faith! Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink? or ‘What are we to put on?’, for after all these things the Gentiles seek; but your Father knows that you need all these things. (Matt 6:25-32; Luke 12:22-30)
Seek first the kingdom of God and his justice
He has given His word and there is only one condition attached — that we seek first the kingdom of God and his justice, that we make this search the one great aim of our lives by bringing everything else into relation with it to make it successful and fulfill our every duty with this end in view. In return for this, He will unburden us of all anxiety, He will take upon Himself all our needs and the needs of those who belong to us or for whom we have to provide, and His care will be all the greater in proportion to the degree of confidence and surrender to His will we strive to attain.
Do we then, for the love of Him, give up the desire to possess the perishable goods of this world? By virtue of another of Christ’s promises these goods a hundredfold, as well as eternal life, have assured us in this life, and as a result, we shall be rich while we are judged to be poor. Freed from the thirst for wealth, from the possession of it and the burden that accompanies it, we shall enjoy peace and contentment unknown to those who, appearing to possess riches, are in reality possessed by them and cannot escape the cares they bring with them. In this way, we shall experience the truth of St. Paul’s words that godliness has the promise of the present life as well as of that which is to come. (1 Tim. 4:8 )
Paraphrases and Excerpts from Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence THE SECRET OF PEACE AND HAPPINESS