“Where you at school?”

“Geneva College.”

“What’re you studying?”

“Christian Ministries”

“That’s wonderful. What year are you?”

“I’m in my senior year.”

“Oh, that’s great. What’s next?”

“We’re…uh….working on that.”

What you read above has become a familiar conversation in the last several months. If you’re like most other college students out there, you’ll face this question sometime in your life – whether it’s graduating high school, trying to get your kids to graduate high school, or some other so-called “stage” in life. It’s such a great question to ask, but a terrifying one to find yourself in a position of answering. I don’t know why we think it’s different for everyone else when we ask it, but we do and many of us, though we may state with confidence what we are pursuing can rarely, when the day draws near, state the “next step” with the kind of certainty we’d like.

And I know a lot of Christians, myself included, who don’t like that. The weakness in me wants to call out “Unfair!” The childishness in me insists on seeing what is above me, beyond me, and too much for me to handle. Oh sure, we come up with a lot of “helps” to deal with that problem, too: tests that will pinpoint our star career field or who we’re most compatible with, desperate pursuit of supernaturally-given knowledge and direction, the counsel of every pastor and wise(r) person we can find. We spend so much time trying to figure out the future – even the immediate future, that it’s almost become a characteristic of young evangelicals.

I’m not here to say we need to pay more attention to the present. That’s both another issue in and of itself, as well as yet another weak attempt to clear the mist. The fact is, looking at your feet when you’ve no idea where you’re going isn’t going to cut it. What I am here to say is that God has not given us 20/20 foresight, impeccable discernment or all the resources to make the best decision possible at every possible point in time. And that’s okay. It’s infuriating to our weakness, but it’s okay.

So, what to do? I’m not sure that there is a one-size-all answer to that question. But I know sitting by and waiting for all the ambiguities, shadows, mists, and distant points to clear up is not faithfulness. It’s not what God’s called us to. It’s not pressing on. In his letter to Jewish exiles, James the brother of Jesus wrote the following exhortation:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:13-17 ESV)

Again, I have no 12-step process. I don’t think God’s given us that sort of outline. But James has given us the boundaries of faithfulness: be humble, be submissive to the Lord’s providential will, and do it. And if you don’t, you will know the guilt of your sin in failing to act on the time – this life that quickly vanishes – that God has given you to glorify Him.

If you think that this puts all the burden on you, we have something more for us: the promise that God has guaranteed His glory, guaranteed the harvest, and guaranteed the redemption of all that He bought with His blood:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:26-32)

I’d be willing to walk a far distance for A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life. In a stroke of writing genius, Donald Miller has given people a challenge far more imperative than The Purpose Driven Life and other similar books. While reflecting on the process of adapting one of his previously published books for the silver screen, Don discovered something about life: it’s really a story and it really needs to be a good one, and if we don’t have a good story in our lives, we’re profoundly (and rightly) dissatisfied. So, Don wants his readers to get a better story.

I enjoyed A Million Miles from the first page until the last page of the acknowledgments. The challenge is provocative and vital. The approach is transparent and humorous. The satisfaction from reading is high. A prayerful reader will benefit greatly from pondering and reflecting about the story that they are telling with their lives. Are you living a good story? Are you the character that God has called you to be? Don won’t answer those questions for you, but he does give you the chance to find out for yourself.

Stephen Covey is a well-known motivator and encourager. His books, speeches, and presentations have dominated the world of self-help resources. So what about Everyday Greatness? Covey remains in his traditional stream of thought, but presenting stories and pithy proverbs to demonstrate attributes that he believes are characteristic of great people (charity, integrity, patience, etc.). Yet, his approach is informed by a faulty understanding of people (that we are basically good) with a faulty ambition for life (be the greatest you can be) and will ultimately lead to a faulty end (failure and emptiness).

While aiming to help people, what Covey has written essentially provides a Book of Virtues for “happy-addicts.” In other words, he is telling the reader “You’re a good person who wants to be happy. These are some inspirations to take that goodness and make you great, so that you’ll be really happy!” That may be the logic of the world, but in the life of the Christian disciple, this sort of thinking lacks grace, Biblical standing, and will ultimately only produce bad fruit. The discerning reader would look, instead, to Jesus Christ and find true greatness (Philippians 2).

Perry Noble, pastor of NewSpring Church in South Carolina, has posted a list of “what ifs” about the early church. Answering these questions and realizing the importance of how we invest ourselves in these days is important for every disciple of Jesus to consider. If we are doing what Jesus said, there will be good fruit from it. My challenge would be for you to read this and pray that God would show you where you can better redeem the time and invest in the Kingdom of God.

Our exploration of seeking discernment so far has had very little to do with what we are discerning and, yet, apart from them we will be unable to discern anything. Until we shut up and bow down, there will be no discernment. God  is not honored by vain words or complaint or anxiety. Neither does he acknowledge our pride and arrogance. So, to hear God speak means we ought to pursue silence and humility before the Lord.

The first thing to realize, though, is that God does speak today, presently and powerfully. Let us be cautious here. I am not claiming that you will hear an audible voice from God when you are seeking to discern His will. You might. I wouldn’t expect it, but God is completely free to do as He pleases. However, God communicates to us in a diverse selection of ways: circumstances, what other people say to us, the reading of the Word, prayer, impressions, prophecy, counsel, etc. It’s important to note, however, that as great as these are, ALL of them fall under the grace-driven authority of the Word of God.

The second thing to realize is that God speaks purposely. In Isaiah 55:11 (ESV), God tells us ” so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” The most immediate application of this text is to the Scripture, so we know that the Scripture is effective in what God has given it to say. It is not beyond reason, however, to say that this Scripture is true of God’s other means of communicating to us. God’s speaking is effective and has purpose for your life. So pay attention.

The third thing to realize is that God speaks personally. There are things that God is going to speak to you that are going to radically transform how you live. It may not be the same thing that He has communicated to others in your life. This is an important thing to get down in our lives because if we put burdens and yokes on men because of what God has put it in our hearts to do, we are burdening servants who are not ours. They are God’s servants and their Master will assign to them their tasks. Clearly, this does not apply strictly to Scripture. Scripture’s authority is universal and absolute and we have no exception for it in any respect.

So, God speaks. Hear. Receive. Submit.

Mark Driscoll wrote a tremendous response to a question from FOX News about Newsweek’s recent report about the death of Christendom in America. It is important to realize that the Gospel does not belong to America, nor does the flag mirror the cross, but we are exiles in the world called to seek the welfare of the city where we have been placed, holding our citizenship in the Kingdom of Messiah.

Has Christian America Come to an End? – FOX Fan – FOXNews.com

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Before we could begin to exercise discernment and hear the voice of God, we must humble ourselves. Getting ourselves to stop talking is only a beginning that gives us room to place our hearts in a position of humility.  We cannot expect to have the help of God in any other area of our life until we first allow Him to humble us. The essence of humility ism as C.J. Mahaney states in Humility: True Greatness, “honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness.” He is perfect. We are imperfect. He is great. We are small. He is Creator. We are created. He is righteous. We are rebellious. He is merciful. We are unforgiving. He is just. We are corrupt. And so on it goes. When we see ourselves in comparison to this God and recognize the depth and unsurpassing worth of His grace, we will begin to see the fruit of humility in our lives.

This is essential. Without humility, we’ll never gain discernment. Scripture is replete with the connection between knowledge of holiness and understanding. Unless we pursue knowledge of the Holy One and see who we are in comparison to Him and recognize our place and our need for His grace, we will never have discernment. So, humble yourself. Spend time in the Word, in prayer, and considering the greatness of God. Surround yourself with those things and those people who remind you sharply of the holiness of God and your own inability to hold to that standard. Seek His face, receive His grace and then we will have been positioned to hear God’s direction.

There is a great deal of discussion and debate on the topic and nature of discernment. Pastors and theologians are teaching about it through sermons, seminars, and books. Conferences are held centering on it. Even bloggers have stepped onto the scene with Tim Challies‘ book The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment (very highly recommended). The fact is, discernment is all the rage, and rightly so. It’s an important issue and merits the attention of Christians everywhere. As Challies wisely names it, discernment is also a discipline that ought to be cultivated by Christians for use in their everyday lives.

To work with discernment, we require a working definition. Discernment can be understood as the confident choice of an individual to embrace the leading and will of God. This is reflected in both developing the discipline of discernment and in the reception of the spiritual gift of discernment. If we are not confident, we have no exercised the scrutiny that comes from discerning. If we have not chosen, we have simply been subjected by or submitted ourselves to the circumstances that we are in. If it is not the leading of God, it is our own self-deceiving heart. If it is not the will of God, it is faithlessness and rebellion. So each of these elements is necessary for our understanding of discernment.

Many more qualified, more experienced, and much wiser men than I have written on discernment. So I will not labor in the teaching of Word on discernment. Rather, seek out the wisdom of men iike Tim Challies, Kevin DeYoung, Josh Harris, C.J. Mahaney, John Piper, J.I. Packer, and others to hone and form your knowledge and insight into the discipline and gift of discernment. What I hope to do, however, is to present some practical elements to the discipline of discernment that are, perhaps, less profound than other readings but the beauty of their simplicity allows us effective communion and submission to God. The first of these points is that the discerning believer will stop talking.

We’re good at encouraging each other to converse with God and not let prayer be a one-way conversation. What usually happens when we try to follow that advice, however, is that we spend a lot of time talking to ourselves about our problems, our perceptions, and our own personal revelations, which we may ascribe to God. The most important thing we can do, to start with, is to stop talking.

To stop talking does not mean taking a vow of silence. Rather, we must be sure that we do not bury ourselves with our wn inter-personal dialogues. In his book Humility: True Greatness, C.J. Mahaney admonishes readers to preach to themselves, to remind ourselves of grace, of lowliness, of humility, and the greatness of God in the Gospel. So when we seek discernment, we start by calling on our souls to still thsemelves and be reverent in the presence of the Almighty Creator.

In doing this, it is often helpful to meditate upon a single verse or brief passage of Scripture. By focusing our attention upon that one verse/passage, we fill our minds with the Word of God and attune our ears to the sound of His voice. With focus and patience, we silence the agonies of our souls and give them brief respite from self-criticism, self-argument, and self-advancement. When we do this, we find ourselves humbled, desiring to see more of God’s greatness and filled with inexpressible joy. So, then, let us be silent before the Lord and quiet our souls to hear His instruction.