It’s an awareness thing. So I pause for it. But for what awareness? I must firstly be aware of God’s presence.
His presence prompts questions:
- God, what are you up to in the world?
- What is my part in it?
These questions lead to the alignment part of the process. The conviction that divine guidance (God’s will) operates in the world invites me into a process of discernment.
I lay aside anything that will deter me from focusing on God’s will as the ultimate value:
- What needs to die in me in order for God’s gifts and direction to find room in my life?
- What will I lay aside or leave behind so that I will be open to gifts of grace or expressions of ministry (serving)?
Biblical images or texts make their own contribution to this discernment process:
- What biblical images, themes, stories or people come to mind that relate to the issue?
- Whose voices do I need to hear?
This world is filled with loud, intrusive input — some of worth, some not. What I give primacy to must align with what I say is my utmost value: God.
“We have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak of these things in words taught not by human wisdom but by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual” (1 Cor. 2:12–13).
