Discernment and the Coming Around by the Body of Christ

A bit of wisdom that was passed on to Beca and I at some point in our lives is to seek the feedback of others as part of the decision making process when making big, life-changing and extraordinary decisions.  We generally engage those who we believe know us well and who will both challenge us in our decision-making rationale and give us additional information to consider based on their own life experiences. 

For those decisions that we believe we are being led by the Holy Spirit to make, we also engage our brothers and sisters in Christ who know us well and who will come along side us to prayerfully discern whether what has been put on our minds and hearts is indeed from the Spirit.  We also engage our brothers and sisters since we have come to know that if this is Spirit-led, then they will come around us and see us through this journey.  


The responses we received from those close to us reveal the beauty of the Spirit at work in that they reveal that the Spirit in each of us recognizes the Spirit in the other.  The responses were all affirming and collectively provide us with the simple message of – Yes, we affirm that the call placed on you to take these steps to remove excess from your lives at this time to be Spirit-led.


So our family obediently embarked today on this path, assured of it being a Spirit-led call and with the body of Christ having come around us for the journey - to pray for and with us, to encourage us, and to help us to witness and remember some important things.  Following are excerpts from some e-mails we’ve been blessed to receive this week about what we need to keep before us on this journey:

"…that the picture that is painted in Genesis is one of ABUNDANCE but that we (humans) tend to see everything through the lens of scarcity and competition.  So as you are shifting your resources, be sure to look for what you are gaining - in time, relationships, ability to be even more generous, etc. and keep this in front of you (and your kids) as well."

 “…that family Bible reading/study and prayer be a part of it all. It makes more sense to kids when they see the connection between God's Word and the present plan of action in the home.”

 “…Anytime we break away from the world's way and into His Kingdom way, it's a wonderful thing!  I think you are setting an incredible example to your kids not to just go along with the status quo but to think about - and make changes - intentionally to bring our lives more into alignment with Him.”

Peace in Christ,
Tom