Earlier last year, as we were going through free agency, I was interested in exploring any “callings” God might have for me outside of the home to serve Him and use any gifts He has given me.
Around that time, I found out about a weekly bible study/prayer call with a group of ladies whose facilitator is very gifted in discerning other people’s gifts and where God might be leading them. This call started out being pretty good for me, but then I started to realize a few things going on in my own heart that gave me pause.
One thing I realized is that I was trusting too much in the words of this leader versus going to God and His Word first and primarily. When you are in a dark place where you are waiting to hear from God and trying to see which way He is leading you, it’s easy to look for things yourself rather than being still, faithfully searching His Word, listening, and trusting God to reveal things to you in His timing. It’s easy to start searching and reaching for things that you might want to hear. While seeking human counsel is a God-given, wonderful thing, and God often speaks through the wisdom of the counsel of many (Proverbs 15:22), it should never be a substitute for seeking God’s Word and voice first.
I also realized that I was starting to build my life around the things that this woman was telling me. One night, as I was laying in bed, I really felt the still small voice of the Spirit say to me, “Be still and know that I am God. Stop trying to figure things out on your own. Stop relying on someone else to tell you where I am leading you. While people have gifts, you can’t trust the gifts of man more than My Word and Truth.” Wow! This word changed my heart and my whole approach to seeking Him and His direction.
I felt like God was giving me discernment in two ways: the first was to illuminate and correct my own impatient heart that was seeking direction in the wrong way and not trusting primarily in Him. The second was to help me see a few things that were a little bit “off” in this leader’s counsel and ministry that didn’t fully resonate with the Word of God. He showed me why it is so important to know His Word! We need to know His Word so that we can discern His voice among all the other “voices” in the world, so that he can lead us in righteousness and truth, and so that we can discern errors when we confront them, even slight errors from Godly and wise people.
In the future, as I pursue God’s direction and leading, I pray my quest will be marked by seeking Him and His word first, patience, surrender, discernment, and trust in Him. And I will surely seek counsel from Godly, trusted people as well, but not in place of seeking God first.“Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)
