Thus Says the LORD

Discernment was a concept I mentioned in an earlier post. It is a difficult concept to grasp and a hard principle to employ. Some would say it is a selective gift given only to a few. That may be true for a special kind of discernment.  However, when you see passages like the one noted below one tends to think otherwise.

"Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else's scrutiny. 'For who has known the mind of the LORD so as to instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ."  (1Cor. 2:14-16)

"...But be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good, acceptable and perfect."  (Romans 12:2b)

In the mid chapters of Jeremiah there is a constant "struggle" between those prophets who say "thus says the LORD" and get it wrong and Jeremiah who says "thus says the LORD" and apparently gets it right.  All the while there is this tension between what God wants and what the people perceive to be His will.

A good example is God's instruction for them to be at home in Babylon. To take wives, give their sons and daughters in marriage, build houses and plant gardens, etc.  This would seem so contradictory to what God seemed to want earlier. Times when they were to annihilate the foreigners and not participate in their culture in any form. Not only that, those who did not participate in the exile would be annihilated themselves. (Jeremiah 27-29)

Israel will be in captivity seventy years. Hard to imagine that they would accept that when someone else is offering them two as a result of "thus says the LORD". (Chapter 28) So it is easy to see how they might convince themselves that what this prophet is saying is better than what that other prophet is saying.

Discerning "God's will" and the truth of scripture is not an easy thing. It is not an attribute that comes naturally. There have been multiple times in my life when I have discerned incorrectly. Times when I wanted a certain course of action so desperately I convinced myself that my responses were a result of "thus says the LORD". Then when things did not work out like I thought, it was easy to say apparently this is what "thus says the LORD" meant.

Some people I know provide simple solutions for discerning God's will. Does it comply with scripture, does it violate God's character, does it lead you to do something that is morally questionable, WWJD, etc. All are nice and helpful I am sure, but it is still my opinion that discerning God's will is the most difficult aspect of the Christian life. We don't get much "thus says the LORD" anymore other than through scripture. There are many preachers who may think they intercede for that, but I suspect that they will get theirs soon enough.

In this new year, I am hoping to be within the scope and will of God. I am not certain I will know that is happening other than by walking the path I see before me one step at a time.  If I am successful doing that, then I believe God will be satisfied.  Perhaps I will see you on the journey.

Happy New Year!