A lot of the conversations I’ve had with people lately, it seems, have centred around discernment. For most of those with whom I’ve talked about it, the matter hasn’t been about new year’s resolutions or the like, but major life-direction issues. These are followers of Jesus who genuinely want to be doing what God wants them to be doing, but at the moment, the way is not completely clear to them. As I’ve prayed for them, the focus of my prayers have been that God would light the path for them so they would be able to see far enough ahead to keep walking the journey.
That ought to be a good prayer for any of us!
As disciples of the Saviour of the world, our heart’s desire should always be to do what God wants us to do. All of us, whether at a crossroads or not, can pray that the Lord will light the path enough for us to be able to see far enough ahead to keep walking.
When we camp in the summer, we don’t exactly “rough it”: we have on-board plumbing facilities that save us having to get up in the middle of the night and traipse down to the “comfort station”. (Who ever decided to call it that? It’s usually intemperate and full of mosquitoes – hardly comfortable – but I suppose it beats Doing One’s Business out in the open.) Anyway, because emptying the holding tank is not anybody’s favourite job, we try to use the “comfort station” as often as we can. Even after the campfire has been doused, before bed, we’ll still walk the gravel path to the Necessary Room.
But it’s dark outside. And campgrounds are not known for unnecessary lighting; after all, people who camp are trying to get away from all the lights, right?!
So, armed with a flashlight, off one goes. But as you may have noticed happens with flashlights, they only illumine a certain distance in front of you when you hold them out. Physics can explain all kinds of reasons why that’s the case, but it’s a demonstrable fact that if you hold a flashlight just at your feet – so you can see where you are – it won’t show you much beyond that. And if you hold the flashlight so you can see a certain distance (which distance depends on the strength of your flashlight), the details of what’s going on at your feet will be harder to discern.
Even artificial light will only show us so much at a time; less so if we are going around a corner, since light, untreated, isn’t given to bending. Perhaps because we are used to nearby light showing us only part of the path, God chooses to illumine only as much of the path of life as will enable us to take the next step on the journey. Each step is a step of faith, and each step we take with the light of God’s discernment illumines a little more of the journey.
Whether you’re looking at a potentially life-changing discernment process or just enough light to be able to get through the rest of the day, trust the Lord to show you what you need to be shown for the next part of the journey. In his care, you won’t be led astray.
“O Lord, you are my lamp. The Lord lights up my darkness” (2 Samuel 22.29, NLT).
