Discernment

This week's memory verse:
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." Psalm 32:8

Today's Bible study topic is discernment...boy, do I need that right now! 

In our walk through life, we should be PARTNERS with God. Proverbs 16:9 says we plan our course in our hearts, but the Lord establishes our steps. In other words, we can plan the way we want our lives to go, but only God makes us able to live it. We can plan and dream all we want, but it is God who ultimately will decide where we will go and what our journey will be like.

My life has taken several twists and turns...some very unexpected. Sometimes, my dreams and plans for my life have been turned upside down! But when I look back on things, I can see where God was with me during those upside down times...even giving me clues as to what to do and how things will go. There have been times that I have seen those clues, but most of the time, my mind and heart were not open enough to see them, and therefore, those upside down times were harder on me than they had to be.

Proverbs 2:6-8 says there are gifts that God gives those who follow his ways, gifts that are given when they are needed...wisdom, knowledge, understanding, success, a shield, a guard, and protection.

It is good for me to think about this right now. I need God's discernment...I need wisdom and a guard against my own self. I get big ideas in my head that ideally will fix all my problems, and most of the time, when I pursue those ideas, I find they may have not been wise at all. I NEED God's help, and I need to TRUST God's help to choose the right path for my future. 

Do you ever think that maybe your plans and dreams...things that you think will be so GOOD for your life...may not be God's leading, but your own foolish ideas? Well, if you do, I pray that we all will ask God for his wisdom to settle over us, and that he would allow us to SEE the clues he is leaving us along the way. May we not veer to the left or to the right of His leading, and may He continue to guard our way. Amen.