New Year’s resolutions are not my thing. I hate the idea of committing to some task in which I know I will ultimately fail at some point in the year. Who wants to feel like an undisciplined failure? Not me, life carries enough stress. But, I do look to God and his word, with insight from the past year, and wonder where he’d like to start our spiritual journey for the year.
In that process, two words emerged on the scene—
Abiding & Hearing
Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me[…]As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.
John 15: 4, 9 (NRSV)
I am the gate for the sheep…I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, […] The gatekeeper opens the gate for them (the sheep), and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
John 10: 11,14, 3 (NRSV)
As these two words melded together in my mind the word discernment emerged. Pen to paper I began jotting down messages about discernment I’ve heard throughout my spiritual journey. As I looked on, words like judging right and wrong, spiritual gifts, good vs. evil, and God’s voice came to mind. I began to question which were true in defining discernment, which were helpful and which were unanswered. These descriptions I’d heard most of my life felt shallow, insufficient, and ill-defined. Surely abiding and hearing meant more than viewing God as our magic eightball whose only job was to advise us through life decisions or guide us toward what we want.
When I hear discernment I envision something intimately rich and inviting. I’ve come to the point in my faith where my current understanding of discernment deserves attention; it’s deficient. In the crux between abiding and hearing, I’m inclined to believe there’s more to be mined. Discernment must be more than asking God to give me a sign as to where I should attend university, if I should marry, if someone is a “true” Christian or not, and beyond flipping open the Bible hoping for some piece of scripture to speak answers into my doubts, problems, and questions. God can’t be that shallow, and we shouldn’t suppose him to be, so I’m determined to dig.
Furthermore, I don’t want to treat discernment as a spiritual discipline in which we attempt to will ourselves into hoodwinking God out of deep secrets we think he harbors from us. Discernment is beyond self-discipline, works, goals, and prescribed Bible reading plans. When has God ever written us prescriptions with detailed instructions on how to receive from him whatever it is we want? Perhaps we are the ones making discernment more difficult than it has to be by framing it under this pretense.
I also propose discernment is not just spiritual gifting doled out to a select few in the church, I believe it is available and promised to all of us. Laying all preconceived notions about discernment down, we must abandon the idea that it can be finagled. If discernment exists between abiding and hearing it implies a relationship; an interaction in which we must release our hands from the wheel, relinquish control so that we can receive.
Time for a Love Graft
Jesus asked his disciples to be as one with him in John 15. Jesus told them this would be possible by simply abiding in his love. Like us, I assume they didn’t fully comprehend what he meant by this or even his definition of love or moreover that it would be easy. But throughout this chapter love plays a vital role in their ability to abide and thus leads me to believe it is pertinent in discernment. Like a lamp, it won’t work unless it’s plugged into a source of electricity.
Living out of the source of love, Christ, would further compel them to love one another as he’s loved us—a dynamic of love not based on worldly romantic love or feel-good notions, but rather a sacrificial, selfless, freely-given, undeserved kind of love. This love dynamic would introduce a way of knowing and being known called friendship and it was with the source of all life, all-knowing, all goodness— God.
Abiding in Christ’s love means we become friends, not enemies with the creator. Being wholly grafted into the source of love ensues a full body and soul makeover. Only in this relationship can we experience true love; a love that heals, comforts, guides, is compassionate and unending. A love that can be trusted with our very life, including decisions, direction, choice, and understanding. Abiding is accepting and receiving being wholly loved by our creator and willingly surrendering to his love in every aspect of our lives. It is a complexly transformative friendship.
Unlocking Discernment
If ever there were a key to unlocking discernment, I believe it can be found in the vines and branches. When we are one and the same with the holiest God through friendship, Christ being our heartbeat, our thinking transforms to reflect God’s, our desires become Kingdom-focused rather than selfish, and our decisions are compelled by love. When we are transformatively grafted we can discern as Christ did, and we can say, “Lord, not my will, but yours.”
Yes, I know. It’s easier said than done. Abiding with Christ gives us access to God’s will, but we first have to battle our will. When Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live…” Galatians 2:20, he infers a death, one that opened a way for the crucified Christ to merge with his soul and takeover.
Next week: I will unpack this further as I share more of my personal journey into the recesses of my heart where parts of me have had to die in order to surrender abidingly into God’s love and draw me closer to discerning his will. Then we will consider more on hearing.
I’d love for you to join the conversation by commenting below. What messages have you heard about discernment? What’s been helpful, or what do you question about discernment? Thanks for engaging with me in this journey.
