John Powell suggests that God has in our regard, a general and a specific will. The general suggests to live our lives in a loving way to glorify God by using all our gifts to the full, while the specific, is a call to do something which is very definite.
“There have been quite a few times when I have felt the winds of God’s grace in the sails of my small boat. Sometimes these graces have moved me in pleasant and sunlit directions. At other times the requested acts of love were born in the darkness of struggle and suffering. There have been springtimes and there have been long cold winters of struggle for survival. God has come to me at times with the purest kindness, at times with the most affirming encouragement, and at other times with bold frightening challenges. I think that all of us have to watch and pray, to be ready to say “yes” when God’s language is concrete and his request is specific-“yes” in the sunlit springtimes and “yes’ in the darkness of winter nights.”
(John Powell, S.J., The Christian Vision, The Truth That Sets Us Free, p147)
Perhaps "knowing" we do God's will is an act of faith beyond intellect's understanding.
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