Discernment: following the right paths

But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. - Hebrews 5:14 NKJV

She flung her hand angrily over the mosquitoes hovering in the black around her lantern, which was swinging madly around as she jogged onwards. The darkness did not let up; she could only see black shapes around her and the sandy path underneath her shoes. Where did this road finish?

Sighing she kept jogging along, but slowed to a walk when she noticed the path widening. She stopped and frowned. Looking around she found the path was branching off into two completely different directions. The left one looked interesting; the path seemed to veer down a hill and all around. She turned and walked cautiously down it.

Discernment is being able to tell if a thing is good or bad. Right or wrong. Biblically, discerning is when you are able to look at two different paths and know which is the right one and which is the wrong one. It is understanding what the two paths are, and understanding where they lead.

Discern – to distinguish; to see the difference between two or more things; to discriminate; to see or understand the difference. (Taken from Websters: American Dictionary of the English Language).

Why bother with discernment? Imagine you are her. You are pushing through with one lone lantern through the paths of life and hit a crossroads. A decision: a guy asks you out or you get a job offer. Do you go with what you feel like? Discernment sees each path and finds out what to take by reading the Word to see which is right and which is wrong.
Discernment sees the end result, the destiny of each road and makes the decisions in light of what is at the end of the finish line.

Here are some bible verses that have taught me a lot about discernment.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up, You discern my thoughts from afar.  

– Psalm 139:2 ESV

They do not know nor understand; For He has shut their eyes, so they cannot see, And their hearts, so that they cannot understand [ or discern]. – Isaiah 44:19 NKJV

God gives discernment. Like King Solomon, you have to ask God for wisdom, knowledge and discernment. He is the one who gives it, you can’t try and be discerning without being given it by God.

Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness, that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home? – Job 38:19-20 ESV

When making a choice of what to do, take a step back and see what the end result will be. Will this new job at the end of its path, bring honour to God? Will this job bring me closer to God in the end, more towards heaven, or will it draw me to the devil? Think of that roads destiny. Each road, path and choice has a destiny, by looking for its destiny you can usually understand if it is good or bad.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light…finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. – Ephesians 5:8-10

Where do we find out what is acceptable to God? The Bible! When I didn’t know if I should be hugging my guy friends, I turned to the bible with a concordance and looked up verses on ‘friendship’ and ‘purity’. I soon realized what path God wanted me to take. You need to search out and dig up the truth so you can make right decisions. Should you go out with that guy? Go to your Bible and ask God what He thinks about dating. To make the right choices to live life on the path that God wants you to be walking, you need to forever be referring to His manual, and digging into it.

So, discernment is finding out if something is right or wrong by: asking God for discernment, looking at the end result, and by searching the bible for knowledge on that choice. Make the right choices by discerning what path to take.

She fell to her knees, briars clinging to her skirt and hair, the blood seeping from her arm and the mud flecked over her face. The path had turned into a little track and had finally vanished, leaving her with no way to go. “Oh, God. I went with what I felt was good, with what I thought was right. Please, please,” she whispered. “Please help me.”

He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set me feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. – Psalm 40:2 ESV

~ Meggie