Encouragement

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The Adversities of Acumen
The challenges of operating in the gift of discernment

Mary Kennedy

“May Christ through your faith (actually) dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love.” Eph. 3 17

There is a price to pay, if a person is to operate in the gift of discernment. First, lets define the word “discernment” as the power of discerning; keen perception or judgment; insight. In I Cor.12:10 the gift of “discerning of spirits” is mentioned, this is defined as the ability to discern the spirit world, and especially to detect the true source of circumstances or motives of people. Although we all can and should be discerning people, especially in the time and season in which we live, not everyone operates in the "gift of discernment" as described in I Cor. 12. People often associate this gift in relation to only seeing the negative aspects in a person or situation, but a truly discerning person sees not only the negative, or demonic side of things, but also sees the positive side as well. A truly discerning person for example, can tell when the anointing of the Lord, is in a situation, and can see people’s gifts and strengths. There are challenges to this gift being operational in a person’s life, which is what this article is about. A lot of people think they would want the gift of discernment, but are they willing to pay the price for it? To be effective in any type of prophetic ministry, a person needs to be rooted and grounded in love (Eph.3:17). It is from this vantage point that we will discuss what it is to be discerning, and how the flesh, with all of it’s reasoning and intellect, can hinder and prevent a person from reaching their full potential.
Being a discerning person who is also intellectually driven, can be extremely frustrating. The first step in overcoming this, is to know that you are hearing from God. Spending a lot of time in the Word of God, is the first step to hearing from God accurately. Hebrews 4:12 states that the Word separates our soul, which is our mind, will and emotions, from our spirit, which is where we are one with God. The more time we spend in the Word, the more our spirits dominate our lives. Obviously this is in reference to our recreated spirits that are alive unto God, through the salvation experience. The infilling of the Holy Spirit, as a secondary experience is what opens a person up to their true giftings in the Spirit. Although I personally believe that one does not necessarily have to be filled with the Spirit, to be a discerning person, however, if a person is filled with the Spirit with the evidence of speaking with other tongues, the gift of discernment is developed with far more proficiency. Praying in the Spirit, quiets the mind down, so that we can hear from God with more clarity, it also aids us in developing our spirit man to be alert to our surroundings, whether they be good and safe, or destructive in any way. Knowing that we perceive things accurately is the first major point in becoming confident in our discerning abilities. How do we know? We know by practice, as the old saying goes “practice makes perfect.” The fear of being wrong can stop a person from stepping out and operating in this gift, it is important to know that mistakes will be made, but this should not deter a person from believing that they can be sensitive to the things of the Spirit, and know they perceive things correctly. The tendency to over analyze everything is something that needs to be overcome, especially in an intellectually motivated person. Cynicism is another character trait that some may have to deal with and put to death, if they are to genuinely be perceptive to the things of the spirit.
There are some people who are by nature, discerning, more than the average person who operates in the gift of discernment, it seems they are just born that way. The devil knows this, and knows just how to attack this person in certain ways that can stop this individual in their tracks. With this type of gifting, there are similar patterns of attack that the devil will try and use to bring destruction to this person. We need to be confident in ourselves, in who we are in Christ, and “know that we know”. For women who are prophetic, you will often see many instances of abuse, of any kind, in their background. One of the main characteristics of a woman who has been abused is the inability to trust their own judgment. For someone who has been gifted by God with discernment, this is a major hurdle to conquer in their life. The devil knows this and tries to create abusive cycles in lives of prophetic type people, to thwart the true calling and destiny of their lives.
Another tendency of the discerning person, is the tendency to be judgmental. We are told in the Word to not be judgmental, and to believe the best in everyone. How do you do this and be discerning at the same time? People often chastise themselves when they sense that something is wrong with someone they know or something they are dealing with. It is easy to just dismiss it and assume that we are wrong and should “not be thinking this way”. Where does this fall within the boundaries of not being judgmental? The anointing of God sees the whole of the situation, not just the negative aspects of it. When we are walking in love, there is no negative attitude towards the object of our perception. If we see that a person is wrong in some area of their lives and we have a negative opinion of that person because of it, we are in judgment, therefore in sin and need to repent. Now, we may perceive things accurately, but our attitude needs to be rooted and grounded in love, not in our being “right”. If we do not see the good with the bad, we have a wrong attitude, and need to examine our hearts in the matter.
Recently I dealt with a situation where I was in a friendship with somebody that I genuinely liked, but inside I felt like something was not right, and I could not shake this feeling, this person ended up really hurting me and causing a lot of problems in my life. I let the fact that nobody else seemed to see what I was seeing influence my thinking in this situation, had I listened to what God was showing me and trusted my own judgment in the matter, I could have avoided a lot of grief
This brings me to another point, not everyone else, and sometimes no one else, will see or perceive the same things that we do. This will make many people think that they are automatically wrong in what they think they are seeing. Nothing is further from the truth! The enemy will use thoughts such as “wouldn’t everyone see this” or “I must be crazy to think this way” and on and on. Sometimes we will see what others don’t, this does not make us wrong. When we are confident in ourselves, and rooted and grounded in love, the lies of the devil are exposed and diminished. When our ability to discern things and hear from the Holy Ghost is exercised enough, we gain the confidence in our own abilities to “pick things up” in the spirit. This is a process and it takes time to grow and mature to the point of skillful knowledge and discernment.
If a person is still asking several people for confirmation of what they have heard and if it’s from God, they are still in the infant stages of spiritual maturity in this area. Part of growing up is to get to the point of not needing the approval of other people. If a person has an addiction to the approval of people and an inordinate fear, or any fear at all of their reactions, they will not reach their full potential as a prophetic minister. A discerning person must be bold, strong and confident. They cannot be influenced in any way be people’s reactions or opinions. The root cause of approval addiction is ultimately fear, when we are rooted and grounded in God’s love for us, that love abates the fear that is there. I believe that one of the tests we must pass to grow in the gift of discernment, is this very test, to not be moved by people in any way. There will be times when not only will no one else see what we see, but they won’t believe us when we tell them what we “sense” in a particular situation. This is when we must know that our confidence is in God and who He is in us. We must rely on the assurance that God is faithful, and His Word is true no matter what situation we find ourselves in, He will vindicate us, His Word promises us so. It is so easy to get frustrated and even angry when people don’t believe you, this of course is exactly what the devil wants because the anger of man does not promote God’s righteousness (James 1:20), and the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost (Rom. 14:17). If we are not walking in peace, we will not be able to hear from God and discern things accurately. Anything we perceive or think we perceive will be filtered through our emotional state. Our emotions can and will deceive us into believing things that are not true. Where envying and strife are, even if it is just our own inner turmoil, it opens the door to confusion, unrest, disharmony and rebellion. Anything we think we “sense” will be based in jealousy and contention, it is an earthly sensual wisdom. This wisdom is rooted in our five physical senses, what we see, feel, etc.. It is influenced by our natural world of which Satan is the god (James 3:14-16, II Cor.4:4). Therefore, this wisdom can and does wreak havoc on our lives, and the lives of those around us. Many problems in life and relationships would be completely solved if we would just learn to stay in a place of peace, and not let our emotions control us.
An unhealed emotional wound can also hinder our abilities to see things clearly in a situation. If a person is exceptionally discerning, this comes with it, a sensitive heart which is a positive thing, however if this person is not rooted and grounded in love, they can and often do become deeply hurt by circumstances in their lives. This is many times hard for the people around them to understand, but when there is a strong prophetic type gifting, the devil sees this often times long before the person does, and works overtime to bring destruction into that person’s life. It has been said that “The greater the call, the greater the attack”, this is true, and unless those wounds are healed by the power of the Word of God, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, they are like magnets for the devil to come in and cause all kinds of problems. Unhealed emotional hurts can cause misperceptions, false accusations and exaggerations of the truth. People can and do falsely accuse others of things they may honestly believe are true, yet their own perceptions are inaccurate because they are operating out of a hurt heart. Hurting people hurt people, and they also draw to themselves repetitive patterns of destruction in their lives. An unhealed hurt can and does draw the same types of situations in a person’s life. Bitterness, depression and unforgiveness can blind us to the reality of any current situation, hindering our discerning abilities, and draws us to more of the same, heaping even more hurt on top of what is already there. Unresolved emotional wounds are like static on a phone, you can’t hear correctly because something is hindering your reception of the message. It can be misunderstood and misinterpreted. Hebrews 11:15 says that as long the people were thinking and longing for where they came from, they would have constant opportunities to return to it. We have to let go of the past, and not allow it to filter our perceptions of today’s reality. God has so many great and awesome things for us, and the only way to experience the healing power of God in any area is through the Word of God. He carried our griefs and sorrows so we wouldn’t have to. God wants us healed spirit, soul and body, to be effective for His purposes and glory. Discernment is a blessing from God, and a discerning person can be a blessing to so many others, in so many ways, that is easy to understand why the devil would go to extreme measures to steal, kill and destroy someone with this type of characteristic.
It is not always the obvious outward shortcomings a discerning person has to deal with, sometimes it is the seemingly innocent, unconscious things that can hinder our discerning abilities. When we sense something about a situation or person, it is incredibly easy to repeat this to someone else. It is especially easy to do this under the guise of a “prayer request” or some other spiritually sounding reason. The Bible calls it gossip, backbiting, and slander. Proverbs 6 calls it an abomination, frowned upon in the eyes of God. An abomination,that is serious business!!! All because of some casual conversation with a close friend, who says they won’t tell anyone, and they usually do. When we talk about our perceptions, we can open the whole situation up to influences in the realm of the spirit that can really bring destruction, and not even realize we are doing this. Not only that, we open ourselves up to major attacks from the enemy as well that can bring confusion and turmoil. We need to really discern our friendships, there are times when we can share things, and maybe even should, but sometimes the people we are sharing things with are not spiritually mature enough to handle the truth of what we are sharing. This can come back to haunt us in a big way. When we are rooted and grounded in love, we realize that we don’t need to be spreading gossip around. We need to grow up, and shut up, if we are to develop as discerning people.
When we sense something is wrong with a certain situation that we are aware of, sometimes we can feel an overwhelming need to fix the problem. This is where codependent inclinations often prevail in our thinking. We think we have the answer, and it is our responsibility to play “Holy Ghost junior” in the situation. We can take on all kinds of burdens in our own hearts and minds. Sometimes God makes us aware of things for our own protection, or so we can pray for whoever may be involved. Prov. 11:9 says that through knowledge and superior discernment we shall be delivered. Recently I was in a situation where something just didn’t feel right, I couldn’t “ put my finger on it”, there were no outwardly obvious things that I could point to and say “this is why I know this is wrong”, I just knew. Now is it my responsibility to tell everyone what I knew? No it isn’t, however the need to protect those I care about can be a driving force to broadcast what I knew, but wisdom dictates that I shouldn’t do that, it probably would not be too well received. Now sometimes the Lord will open a door for me to share with someone what I have sensed, but there again it takes a sensitive and perceptive heart to know when that opportunity is actually from the Lord, or if it is a temptation from the devil to get me to open my mouth and say something I should not say. It is not my responsibility to” save the world” with my perceptions and insight, it is my responsibility to answer to God for myself, and pray for anyone else who may be potentially harmed in the situation.
Many times our need to vindicate ourselves can be the motivating force behind our need to tell people what we discern. It is hard to deal with not being believed when we know we are right. However, we always need to keep the best interests of others at the forefront of what we say and do. Our propensities for self-aggrandizement have to be squelched. When we are rooted and grounded in love, we are not inclined to be so narcissistically motivated. It is not all about us.
In Isaiah 30 it talks about quietness and confidence being our strength. We need to live and conduct ourselves in quietness and confidence. Confidently trusting God, and His word to us and in us, is something that needs to be cultivated within us on a daily basis. Lamentations 3:26 states “It is good that one should hope in and wait quietly for the salvation (the safety and ease) of the Lord.” In some ways quietness to me means, the absence of the need for self –
validation from outward sources. Our validation needs to only come from God, and who we are in Christ, as righteous, complete, loved and approved of people. Being rooted and grounded in love creates this in us. Being rooted and grounded in love erases the incessant need for approval and acceptance from people. Confidence and boldness are absolute prerequisites for the discerning person . As we become rooted and grounded in love our entire existence changes, the way we experience our lives is different. Being rooted and grounded in love, God’s love for us which gives us our love for ourselves, allows the gift of discernment to
operate the way it should.

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