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From the beginning of childhood we are in the process of learning nearly everything we need for living life. That means practice and most of us are challenged with that requirement. We just don’t like it whether that is about tying our shoes and making our bed, a spelling list, basic math facts, a musical instrument, or any other thing you can name. It requires repetition and discipline to cultivate the steps to form the habit we need to become skilled. Couldn’t you just show us and then be able to do it right away?

That might be nice but it doesn’t really work that way and never has.

Many skills and habits are no longer in style and are getting dusty setting on a shelf somewhere but there is one that we may not even recognize we need to practice despite how vital it is.  Discernment. 

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Moment by moment each day we are faced with making choices. How do we decide? To know which is really the best choice requires discernment and never before have we been so bombarded with competing voices trying to persuade us one way or another. If I don’t clear out my email inbox daily I can quickly accumulate thousands of emails making it harder than ever to discern which ones are worth my time and attention and which ones I toss right away.  What is the truth of the one trying to persuade me?

“Discernment in its fullness takes a practiced heart fine-tuned to hear the word of God and the single mindedness to follow that word in love. It is truly a gift from God, not one dropped from the skies fully formed. It is a gift cultivated by a prayerful life and the search for self-knowledge.” 

Ernest Larkin

Discernment is a habit that begins with learning to wait and listen before we act on something. Even in prayer, how often do you wait after praying to hear what the Lord might speak to your heart? Do you know Him from the Bible well enough to recognize his voice above any other clamoring for your attention?

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It’s not always easy even when two options before us are equally good. Even so, who better than God to show us which is best for us in the long run?  Our understanding of that develops over time with experience and the habits of waiting and listening.

“The capacity to recognize and respond to the presence of God in all of life is a spiritual habit and practice that keeps us connected with God’s larger purposes for us and for our world rather than being consumed by self-interest. As we become more practiced at recognizing the presence and activity of God, we are able to align ourselves more completely with what God is doing in any given moment, which is when life begins to get really exciting!” 

Ruth Haley Barton

If these are the necessary components and goals to result in growing in discernment, what are the ingredients that help us get there?

Ruth Haley Barton describes three beliefs that move us there in her book, Sacred Rhythms. The first is “belief in the goodness of God.”  That isn’t as easy to hold onto as it may sound. It’s a belief tested when crises and challenges make life hard or bumpy and our prayers seem to bounce off heaven’s walls in silence or we get a different answer than what we think we want or believe we must have. It means we must trust God when our own choices do not get the outcome we want.

Barton lists “love” as “the primary calling” as the second step. It’s important to notice these two steps do not bring us to decisions based on intellectual reasoning or listing the pros and cons. Instead we ask ourselves “What does love call for in this situation? What would love do?” Such questions can pierce our hearts and reveal how much self-interest goes into choices we make (not what Christ modeled at all).

The third step in Barton’s list is “God does communicate with us through the Holy Spirit.”  How do we get to that as a solid belief?

“The practice of discernment assumes a deep-seated theological belief in God’s presence and action through the Holy Spirit in the midst of daily experience. It assumes that God’s will is continuing to be revealed as it is needed and as I am able to hear it and respond to it.” 

Ruth Haley Barton

As the darkness of the world creates more shadows over every area of our life, discernment has never been needed by any of us more. There are many voices seeking our attention. Some are loud (almost screeching). Some are sweet and seductive in their persuasion. Some whisper so we are not quite sure what is being said. Some are speaking truth. Some use half-truth and others are lies. Distinguishing the difference is not always easy, but there is only one voice that is true and Christ has said in scripture that those who are his know and recognize his voice.

How does that happen?

A good shepherd spends all his time with the sheep (day and night) and his voice becomes so well-known they will not fall prey to another trying to appear as a shepherd. No shepherd can compare with Christ who came to earth to give us life and show us God.

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