The course I'm taking at Regent on discernment is, to put in contemporary language, pretty awesome. Today's lecture marks the core of the course, as we went over the "rules of discernment". The prof joked that this really what the course is all about, and the rest of the material is just "filler" to make it a 3 credit grad. I think he was half serious ;o)
To discern well, we are called to use both our heart and our mind. Believe it or not, this concept is actually completely new to me. I always thought that to be sure that I hear God's voice it would be through pure revelation - delivered to me by angels with wings - the whole bit. Well, maybe not that extreme. But I always thought the way to which I am to know God's will, if it is clearly his will, wouldn't require much work on my part, because well, it would be made known to me by God as clear as crystal. So I'm only discovering in the past weeks, by reading the two books for the class and also through today's lecture, that it's much more than that. That God actually speaks to us through the spirit more frequently than we think. Or rather, we are able to discern what God is saying to us through the movement of our hearts because that's how the spirit communicates with our inner conscience. Wow... It feels like God just got a lot closer, but hey that's not a bad thing!
I'm thoroughly impressed and pleased by the fact that we are called to not discount our feelings nor our intelligence. That God us the capacity to think for a reason. And also that we need to face up to our emotions (re: my post from yesterday) and critically think about why we feel this way? How do we respond when we feel this way? And what is the spirit saying to us by which how we feel? What a relief it is to know that I no longer have to continue to pray to God for him to show me a "sign" when torn between different choices. And what an enlightenment to know that we don't have to be people who say to others "I know this because he told me in a dream." to be Christians who can call themselves close to the Lord. In fact, we're asked to bee aware of these and treat them with honest scrutiny because we are not masters of our own minds, their deep complexity and capability to play tricks on us. It is so good to know that we can, in good faith, learn to discern from the forefathers of discernment. As an engineer, this makes me very happy to know that there is a relatively methodological way of doing this. But if you are confused in your feelings as I am half of the time, I'm sure you are happy to know this too.
The one teaching that I received from the books and from the lecture today is to never choose to act in desolation, or never to base a decision on your negative feelings, may it be anger, fear, mourning, or discouragement. When our hearts are desolate, they are not aligned with God, and therefore we cannot trust the decisions we make when we act due to these feelings. Bells and whistlers went off in my head when I read this. This may be one of the wisest and most helpful advice I've received in my entire life. And it makes so much sense!
So in taking part of this class, I feel a re-newed sense of confidence in knowing that yes, I can do it. I can, with practice, prayer, and above all, God's grace, learn to know what he is saying to me. I can piece together the movements of my heart with my good mind. Of course a big part of this is trusting him, which is often the hardest part ;o) But there is a sense of peace in knowing that above all, our Father is in control. His love and providence is unfailing. I don't feel as lost in my sea of emotions, and certainly I know now that I do not need to suppress them in front of God, or to myself. The spirit is there to guide, and I'm here to obey.
There's all this other good stuff that we covered that I wish I could expand on. Take the course yourselves and find out!
I'm thoroughly impressed and pleased by the fact that we are called to not discount our feelings nor our intelligence. That God us the capacity to think for a reason. And also that we need to face up to our emotions (re: my post from yesterday) and critically think about why we feel this way? How do we respond when we feel this way? And what is the spirit saying to us by which how we feel? What a relief it is to know that I no longer have to continue to pray to God for him to show me a "sign" when torn between different choices. And what an enlightenment to know that we don't have to be people who say to others "I know this because he told me in a dream." to be Christians who can call themselves close to the Lord. In fact, we're asked to bee aware of these and treat them with honest scrutiny because we are not masters of our own minds, their deep complexity and capability to play tricks on us. It is so good to know that we can, in good faith, learn to discern from the forefathers of discernment. As an engineer, this makes me very happy to know that there is a relatively methodological way of doing this. But if you are confused in your feelings as I am half of the time, I'm sure you are happy to know this too.
The one teaching that I received from the books and from the lecture today is to never choose to act in desolation, or never to base a decision on your negative feelings, may it be anger, fear, mourning, or discouragement. When our hearts are desolate, they are not aligned with God, and therefore we cannot trust the decisions we make when we act due to these feelings. Bells and whistlers went off in my head when I read this. This may be one of the wisest and most helpful advice I've received in my entire life. And it makes so much sense!
So in taking part of this class, I feel a re-newed sense of confidence in knowing that yes, I can do it. I can, with practice, prayer, and above all, God's grace, learn to know what he is saying to me. I can piece together the movements of my heart with my good mind. Of course a big part of this is trusting him, which is often the hardest part ;o) But there is a sense of peace in knowing that above all, our Father is in control. His love and providence is unfailing. I don't feel as lost in my sea of emotions, and certainly I know now that I do not need to suppress them in front of God, or to myself. The spirit is there to guide, and I'm here to obey.
There's all this other good stuff that we covered that I wish I could expand on. Take the course yourselves and find out!
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