Discern What is Good

Whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, And the righteous will walk in them. Hosea 14:9

Discernment is key to a christian’s survival in the last days.  We will be closer to God with it and be led astray without it. With the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we can discern what is best, what is good, what is a blessing, what is a distraction and what is evil. Discernment helps us know what situations may appear good but lead to destruction.  The Holy Spirit gives discernment to believers when we begin our walk with Him. The more we listen and obey His direction, the more we depend on Him and the more discerning we will become.

This treasured gift is from God and as soon as we try to take credit for it, we can be led astray.  The greatest deception that a discerning person will face is their own pride.  Our Holy Spirit discernment can quickly change when we start looking for evil in every situation and eventually every person. We don’t even realize we have crossed the line of sin. Our own discernment can make us feel like we are the smartest person in the room.  We justify the separation from other believers because of our discernment, but eventually we feel the separation from God.  That is where Satan wants us; watching him and his evil work.  While it is true this gift sets us apart and leads us down lonely paths at times, God wants His people to be unified and working together to discern good, not just evil in these days.

Discernment is given to every believer, but the difficulty lies in choosing light over darkness; what is best over what is good. Christians understand that God has their back when they are surrounded and oppressed by evil.  It doesn’t take a super spiritual christian to discern evil.  What it does take is a very discerning Christian to see what God is doing and what He wants to do in our lives, in our church and in our ‘Jerusalem.’  Often, the scripture compares our walk to running a race.  As a former competitor, I knew it was a fatal error to look back at my opponent.  I always kept my eyes on the finish.  I strategized and executed a plan to win the race.  I was attuned to the runners around me.  I was not surprised by their approach but I never looked back.  As soon as I did, I gave them the advantage.  And they would take that advantage and win the race. This analogy is easily applied to discernment.  Discernment keeps us aware of what the enemy is doing, but we must keep our eyes on Jesus.  We must focus on His Plan.  We discern when  to push through the pain, when to pace ourselves and when to give it all.  As believers, we can be so busy discerning evil,  that we stop focusing on God and His plan and then miss the victory. If we are using our keen discernment to focus on Satan and his tactics, then we may inevitably help the enemy to accomplish his goal.  We must focus on God and His ways.

I find it very disturbing to think that I could be trying so hard to be aware of the evil around me that I might miss what the Holy Spirit is saying to me. Discernment is hearing Him say,  “This is My plan. I need you to listen closely to My direction and everything will work out perfectly.  Trust Me in this.”  It grieves me to think how many times I have focused on the mess the enemy was making, even trying to strategically defeat him at what he does best.  When the whole time Jesus was saying, “The victory is over here. You are getting way off course again!”  God is watching out for us while we pursue His desires and focus on obeying His plan.  God is aware of our adversity.  God is omnipresent and omniscient.  He is able to see the enemy, the race, all the participants and the finish line all at the same time.  We can’t do His job and do what He has called us to do.  Let’s trust God to have our backs!  Yes, the Bible does remind us to watch out for our adversary - to be aware.  But let’s keep the focus on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, the Way maker, the Storm calmer.  Let’s use the gift of discernment to understand God’s plan and build His kingdom.

Philippians 1:9-10

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;