The Truth Within

My parents were extraordinary, brilliant, loving, and wise people—but they had some issues and were very self-consumed. This left me with an early void of healthy leadership that had real ramifications.

At different times in my life, I have somewhat compulsively sought the counsel (or validation) of others—friends, mentors, bosses, sponsors, pastors. God says it’s wise to seek godly counsel and foolish to seek the counsel of scoffers, the proud, the wicked, the self-wise, or fools. Duh.

I freely admit that I have sought counsel from people who did not share my values (or said they did but really didn’t), my faith, life experience, circumstances, or even my best interests. At times, I idolized or idealized some voices, which was neither good for them nor me. Even if they had something I wanted, if they didn’t share my values, would their advice actually be doable, livable, or good for me? Consider the source.

Bad idea. Bad consequences. They didn’t have to live with them. I did.

What’s worse, there were times when I had a deep internal sense of what I should say or do—and I deferred my conscience to someone else, or silenced the disconnect in some other unhelpful way. Again, I lived with the consequences.

For many years, even as a person of faith, I went to people before God. Sometimes—honestly—this became polling or vote-collecting (often for what I wanted to hear), rather than relying on the Holy Spirit within me and doing the work required to receive clarity.

There is grace for this. God does speak through people, and we are meant to do life in community. But people and community are never substitutes for God. Neither outsourcing discernment nor going it alone leads to wisdom. He must come first if we want faithful and fruitful, personalized discernment. Even Jesus went to God first!

In retrospect, some of my canvassing was a shortcut—rather than talking to God, reading Scripture, doing the work, and sitting quietly (sometimes uncomfortably or impatiently) until clarity and peace came.

Oh my… the lousy decisions I made this way.

God says He places His law—His order and truth—within the human heart. He is a God of good and orderly direction. Scripture tells us that if we are in Him, He is in us. If we seek Him and abide in Him, He will direct us. His Word tells us most of what we need to know, and what isn’t spelled out, we can ask Him about.

Our conscience is not infallible—but when it is submitted to God, shaped by the Word, and surrendered in humility, it becomes a trustworthy source.

We can pray, listen, and then test what we hear against God’s unchanging truth, guarding against self-will or the imperfect guidance of others that can lead us astray.

As followers of Christ, we have the extraordinary gift of personal, intimate access to the God of the universe—a God infinite enough to rule creation, yet personal enough to know every hair on my head and what is right for me.  A unique, custom-tailored plan.

He is within me and speaks to me. I can speak to Him and listen for His voice. For some of us, our hearing may be impaired by sin, struggle, or self-will—but He is merciful and kind and continually invites us to return.

With His help, we can clear the airwaves and tune first to His steady, trustworthy voice.

GOOD NEWS

If this stings a little—or a lot—there’s good news. God does not waste our past. When we re/turn to Him, He redeems it and propels us forward. No matter how long we’ve outsourced our discernment, God always invites us back—right here, right now—to begin again with Him.

PRACTICE

Do you need guidance today? Consider going to the throne before the phone. Listen for God’s voice, then test what you hear against Scripture and His character. If clarity still doesn’t come, seek the wisdom of someone who shares your values and has relevant experience.

We have our own indwelling Holy Spirit. Talk to God first. He loves to hear from us.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank You for the unbelievable gift of unguarded and unmediated access to You. Forgive us if we have made idols of mere men, or ignored or silenced the God-given truth You placed within us. Reveal any obstacles that get in the way. Grant us the grace to return and to hear Your voice clearly for the answers we seek. Thank you that Jesus made this possible. In His name we ask all this. Amen. Thank You. I love You. 💖

DIG DEEPER

James 1:5–8

Hebrews 5:14

John 10:3–5, 27