1 Kings 3:5-14: Solomon said to the Lord, "Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil."
Discernment: The gift of discernment is the ability to recognize what is genuine from what is pretense; what is of God from what is not of God.
We live in a world where we are constantly presented with information, from the 24/7/365 mass news media cycle, gossip rags, advice columns, weather reports, health & science periodicals, tragedy and triumph. This access to information is a gift and a curse. At times we get so bogged down, inundated by constant news, that our brains cannot process the information. It becomes harder and harder to discern fact from fiction, truth becomes obscured. It can be daunting.
Wisdom is one of the gifts God gives us. Our Father wants us to use our rational mind, analyze and study facts and figures, contemplate and theorize, but at the end of the day, true wisdom comes from the knowledge of trust God's truth and praying for discernment. Discernment is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It is critical to our lives as Christians. It helps to guide us towards God while being grounded in the reality of the situation. It is something that we struggle with, it is a gift and resource we can trust God will give through the Holy Spirit if we pray for 'discernment.'
Praying for 'wisdom' and discernment, guidance in our spiritual lives has to be grounded in total submission and trust in God's power over our own preconceptions. How often do we go to prayer asking God for guidance when we already are firmly convinced in the answer he should give us. We often mistake this for discernment. We get angry when God doesn't answer our prayers, when the truth is the prayer was not aligned with his plans and purposes - discernment helps us to understand God's purpose in our life.
We can willingly desire to trust God's guidance and receive the gift of discernment, but we are stubborn creatures. We have goals and dreams, which might not be 'evil' or bad, but God has greater plans for us. Instead of trusting God's plan, and actively working towards it we trying to fix a broken plan, something that will no longer fill us spiritually and physically. Sometimes discernment is taking our faith through dark places that make no sense at all. Death of a child, how can that be in God's plan. For me I have battled numerous trials, and it took discernment - God's spirit to work through me. I felt setbacks in career, family betrayal, obstacles in health were stab wounds that wouldn't heal...it took wisdom to help me discern God's eternal work is stronger than the temporal obstacles of this world.
This is a time when the 'I believe, help my unbelief applies.' We in our stubborn clinch fists, hold onto burdens that God will willingly relieve our sore bones of. Turn over those coping mechanisms, burdens, fears, etc...to God and pray to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gift of wisdom, not wisdom of the world, but God's discerning wisdom. Trust God's wisdom. King Solomon leaned on God's wisdom and it served him well, until he allowed wisdom of the flesh to supersede God's wisdom working through him. That doesn't mean there isn't wisdom in the world that isn't in accordance with God - God wants us to learn and grow in science, history, arts...be aware of world concerns, but we cannot allow that wisdom to tear us away from God...
For instance, I am a news junkie and I get embroiled in the headlines, outraged by social errors, politics, world concerns - this is good, but there were times I got so depressed or overwhelmed that I began to allow worldly worry to supplant trust in God. It took tuning out all news for a few days, silently recalling God's work in my life and praying for discernment based on God's will, not my own selfish desires.
God is ready to guide us, come to him in prayer and the heavens will sing, our hearts will be opened to receive the spirit's gift of wisdom, and through that discernment we must trust God, while also recognizing our limits of wisdom and discernment, careful not to interject our flawed wisdom into the discerning power of the spirit. Find a quiet place and listen. God is with us!
Prayer:
God, we grant that you in your all-encompassing wisdom, grant us discernment to know and trust your will for our lives. Actively call your servants to your ministry and work through us in your lives. May the blessed gift of the Holy Spirit guide us and grant that your wisdom guide us in all things. Praise be to God, the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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