Be Honest – Can you see yourself?
We talked in Bible Study about discernment. One small part of that was to be able to say no to four questions before being open to hear the Holy Spirit (the Truth). The four questions were:
- Am I a critical or suspicious person by nature?
- Am I jealous or do I feel threatened?
- Do I have anything selfish to gain from this outcome?
- Are my emotions clouding my discernment?
These were good questions. Figuring out where I might be blocking the Truth was difficult. But then when I knew the answer, there arose another question – how do I change?
Ask God –
For instance in the jealousy department I had to ask myself – do I congratulate others for what they do or do I secretly harbour resentment at their accomplishments. Now that I “see” this tendency in me I can pray for God to soften my heart and instead of being jealous of someone I can work at being jealous for that person. As I pray I see how God works in that person’s life and how, as I pray He works in mine, too. I can start to love freely – to pray for good things to happen as that person grows in Christ.
Here is a personal example:
As a writer who is floundering at the moment – trying to find out where and what I am to write, I sometimes do feel envious of the published authors, the speakers, the ones “at the top”. It is not a serious jealousy – just a little itch. But I saw it and confronted it. Now I need to take it seriously, before it clouds what God might want of me – so I can clearly discern His will.
Are there specifics that You can ask God to reveal to you? What might be blocking your spiritual discernment?
Prayer:
Father, as You reveal to us what can muffle Your voice, we ask that You help us to work through each specific blockage and make us wholly open to Your will for our lives. In Jesus’ name. AMEN.
Next week I will continue with the other questions. This study is based on a book called Faithful, Abundant and True with Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer and Beth Moore.
