You have dealt well with Your servant, O LORD, according to Your word. Teach me good discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Your commandments.
Psalm 116:65-66Psalm 116:65-66
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
WP-Bible plugin (NAS)
Though spiritual discernment, or making wise, God-centered judgements on particular situations, may create a level of uncertainty on our part, God’s character is such that we don’t have to wonder about the role he will play in achieving his will. He will always be full of grace, mercy, compassion and lovingkindess for those who follow his precepts.
We only have to be hungry for his words and his truths to go to the Bible to understand what spiritual discernment is all about. Consider these verses: Psalm 119:65-66Psalm 119:65-66
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
65 I am your servant, Lord,
and you have kept your promise
to treat me with kindness.
66 Give me wisdom and good sense.
I trust your commands.
WP-Bible plugin, Proverbs 15:14, 16:21Proverbs 15:14, 16:21
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
14 Anyone with good sense
is eager to learn more,
but fools are hungry
for foolishness.
16 It's better to obey the Lord
and have only a little,
than to be very rich
and terribly confused.
WP-Bible plugin and 18:15; and Phillippians 1:9. To take one example, Proverbs 15:14Proverbs 15:14
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
14 Anyone with good sense
is eager to learn more,
but fools are hungry
for foolishness.
WP-Bible plugin reads:
The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge, But the mouth of fools feeds on folly. (NAS)
Though it’s probably not an inherently Christian poem, Robert Frost’s, “The Road Not Taken,” implies the kind of folly that sends us down a well-traversed path in life, one, for instance, that seeks after fame, wealth and possessions, rather than down narrower, more lightly tread path to God. The character in the poem chose the least traveled road. As Christ said in Matthew:
For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (NAS)
For some, the concept of spiritual discernment may seem abstract or even elusive. Some may feel like Adam and Eve, who, having recently sinned and been cast out of Eden, was portrayed by John Milton in the epic poem, “Paradise Lost,” as a bit apprehensive about where to go or what to do outside the care of God’s perfectly designed garden.
Some natural tears they dropt, but wiped them soon;
The world was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide:
They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow,
Through Eden took their solitary way. (Book XII, “Paradise Lost”)
But unlike Adam and Eve, we today have more than just “Providence” as our guide. Merriam Webster defines the capitalized version of “Providence” as: “God conceived as the power sustaining and guiding human destiny.” But today, we have more than just a cosmic being pulling the strings of human existence and orchestrating its mechanisms. We don’t have to apprehensive.
In the New Testament, Christ spoke of a helper, the Holy Spirit, who would inhabit us when we believe in Christ to directly guide our steps and give us wisdom. This is not a distant kind of guidance, but a personal and intimate one. Moreover, we have the Bible, which is God’s blueprint for our lives. In trying to discern God’s will regarding the various decisions in your life, we don’t have to guess or fumble in the dark. God’s character and his word shows us time and again that’s he faithful to protect us and provide for our needs. Regardless of the particular decision facing us, we should take comfort in the fact that if we honestly seek his will, no matter what that looks like in our lives, his grace, compassion and love are more than enough to sustain us through any trial or circumstance.
When thinking about God’s character and the spiritual discernment required by us, let us always remember that, no matter how many careers, friends or family members fall away from us, God won’t … ever.
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:26Psalm 73:26
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
26 My body and mind may fail, but you are my strength and my choice forever.
WP-Bible plugin (KJV)
prayer
Today, be reminded of the many examples of God’s goodness in your life. Pray that he would supply you with an even greater desire to be at the center of God’s will. Pray that in the tough decisions of life, you would be reminded to always pray for discernment from the Holy Spirit and for the diligence to investigate his word for his will for your life.
Keep up the good work.