Love God and do what you will.

This quote by Saint Augustine can feel too good be true. It's easy to somehow think that God wants us to suffer and bear it all for His will. Don't get me wrong, life can have a fair amount of suffering. And if there's anything we know, it's that bad things happen to good people. But to say that God actively wills us to suffer in order to follow Him is simply not accurate. 

Sure, God asked His only Son, Jesus, to accept His cross. And yes, in the garden, Jesus did pray for the cup to pass, but wanted God's will to be done. But do you know what else Jesus did? He embraced His cross; in The Passion of the Christ, we even see Him kiss the wood. Jesus died for us because He wanted to. He was--and is--God. He could have easily chosen to save us another way. But He chose to die for us on the Cross, and accepted the suffering that went with it. Because that's how much we're worth to Him. Wow. Think about that.

All of us in life have a purpose. Not all of us yet know what that purpose is. But if we love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths, an amazing thing happens. We naturally start to want what He wants. Not because He's forcing us. Jesus would never do that. But because He is slowly guiding our hearts toward Him. So if we truly love Jesus and pray for His will to be done, He will start leading us toward what makes us happy. And yeah, there might be some suffering along the way. But we don't choose our vocations because we want to suffer. We choose our vocations because we love them, and any suffering that results from them we bear with His help.

Try to think of one vocation that doesn't result in some suffering. It's impossible, because there isn't one. But the joy that comes from our vocations overwhelm us. Because God actively desires our happiness. He doesn't demand anything in return, but hopes that we'll love Him. And if we're willing to trust Him with our hearts... something miraculous happens. He will lead us to what makes us happy. After all, don't we discover our vocations by following our hearts?

What it comes down to, is this: Our lives are a gift from God. And what we do with our lives is our gift back to Him.