Baseball is a relatively simple game to play…if you know how to play baseball. If you do not know how to play baseball, it is a game filled with complicated, sometimes abstract instructions, skills, and coordination.
To some degree, anyone can throw a ball. But, throwing a ball correctly is a different thing altogether. If you have ever coached a little league baseball team, you realize how challenging it is to teach basic baseball skills. Part of the challenge comes because, as a grown up, you have probably been throwing and catching a baseball for many years. You have forgotten all of the beginning and intermediate steps in the process of throwing a baseball. You naturally position your body in the direction of your target. You step with the correct foot, throw with the correct hand, you even point your glove toward your target.
You may have forgotten that you are making a “T” with your arms when you throw, for instance. You no longer think consciously about how you grip the ball or where your release point should be. For many years you haven’t consciously processed how to transfer the ball from your glove to your throwing hand or even how you look at the target where you are throwing.
I have the privilege of having a little league baseball player in my home and a high school baseball player. I appreciate how complicated baseball can be when my 14 year old tries to coach up my 8 year old: “OK buddy, hold you glove this way, point your feet that way, keep your eyes open, off hand beside your glove, first step back. No, don’t lean that way, lean this way.”
When we try to teach biblical discernment, it is difficult for the same reasons that teaching someone to play baseball is difficult. If you are teaching biblical discernment, you have probably forgotten many of the steps involved in the process. Discernment becomes second nature to you as you mature in Christ and grow in your knowledge, understanding, and application of God’s word.
But, for those who are new to the concept, we have to break discernment down into practical steps that can be used to arrive at a decision.
- Prepare. The preparation for decision making comes before you are ever faced with a conundrum. The greatest tool in practicing spiritual discernment is God’s word. So, the most important step in any decision comes long before you face the decision. Your spiritual preparation for discernment happens each day as you immerse yourself in God’s word through reading and memorization.
- Perceive. Before you can make a decision, you need to appropriately understand the problem. Work to identify the problem and potential solutions. If the question at hand is a simple choice between two options, make sure that you clearly understand the decision you are trying to make.
- Pray. You understand the situation, so pray for the Lord to give you discernment. When Paul wrote to the Philippians, it was his prayer that their “love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment.” Just as Paul prayed for the Philippians, so too should you pray for your own situation.
- Practice. Discernment is the ability to distinguish the best decision between multiple choices. After you have prayed, ask yourself honestly if God’s word speaks clearly to the situation. If God’s word speaks clearly, then you know what you need to do. Put God’s word into practice.
- Ponder. What if your situation isn’t one clearly spoken about in God’s Word. A new series is coming out on Netflix, and you are trying to decide if you should watch it. The Bible doesn’t talk about Netflix, so you need to ponder on this question a bit, and seek more information. What does the Bible say about our entertainment choices, for instance? What is this series rated. Philippians 4:8 says we should seek things that are pure, lovely, and commendable. With a quick search you learn Netflix series is rated MA for graphic nudity. At this point, you know what you should do. But, what if your situation isn’t so black and white. Maybe you are trying to decide between two jobs. Both of them are God-honoring occupations that provide you with the ability to support your family. Here, you ponder. Ponder which of the positions could offer you the greatest satisfaction or the greatest opportunities for your family. Seek out a little more information. Do some research. Create a pro and con list. In a situation like this, you may be deciding between two great options. You have prepared. You’ve perceived, you’ve prayed. You’ve practiced obedience and you’ve pursued all the information you can find. Then what?
- Pursue. You can’t sit on the fence forever. When you are trying to make a decision and either choice can honor the Lord, don’t waste time. You’ve clearly identified the problem, bathed your decision in prayer, you’ve put into practice what biblical wisdom you can, you’ve pondered the situation in light of God’s word. What next? Get to work. Whatever you do, work heartily as unto the Lord. Sometimes the right decision is the one that you make. Often, when deciding between two good options, you’ll understand God’s will best in the rearview mirror. So, choose a direction and pursue it with rigor and joy.
- Peruse. This may be one of those p-words you’re not familiar with, but peruse means to read or examine carefully. The last step in the discernment process is to look back over your decision, to examine it, determine if it was the right decision and figure out how you can learn from it. One of the struggles in learning discernment is that it takes time and experience to become proficient in discernment. So, taking time to examine your decisions gives you the opportunity to improve. Careful perusal will help you to make better (and usually faster) decisions in the future.
Discernment is a spiritual discipline that every believer is called to hone. However, it can be a daunting challenge to teach and to understand. Hopefully, you can use the six steps above to help you as you seek to better discern God’s will for your life this year.
Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash
