Discernment and “Finding the Will of God”

　　Hong Kong is undergoing a tumultuous time at present, and the need for discernment has never been greater. Seized by political uncertainty, social unrest, and the fracturing of society, Christians in Hong Kong face the challenge of making informed and wise decisions in a climate characterized by instability, fear, misinformation and growing distrust. Discernment is the ability to make good decisions; Christian discernment is the realization that the best decisions we can make in any given situation are those that align closely with the will of God. In a confusing time such as this, it is more important than ever to be able to hear the voice of God amidst the chaos.

Models of Discernment

　　There are two typical approaches to “finding the will of God”: (1) the blueprint model, and (2) the wisdom model. The blueprint model assumes that there is only one path ordained by God and suggests that the believer’s goal in life is to seek out what that one path is. It is not uncommon for those who subscribe to this model of discernment to look for external signs, including dreams, coincidences, “open doors,” and Scripture to confirm for them that the path they have chosen is the right one. In the wisdom model, the goal is to grow in wisdom as one matures in Christ and immerses oneself in the Scriptures. Having become enlightened, the believer will naturally be more inclined to make the right choices and less inclined to make bad ones. According to this view, the wiser a person becomes, the better choices they are able to make. The blueprint model attempts to find the will of God through signs and confirmations; the wisdom model implies that the wisest decision we can think of must be God’s decision.

　　The problem with both of these two models is that while they are rightly concerned with the will of God, they fail to acknowledge the presence of the living in our times of choice. Perhaps the fundamental problem in using terminology like “finding the will of God” in the first place is that it places the emphasis on the plans of God, rather than on God himself. It is as though we are seeking a map that tells us where to go, rather than the company of someone who actually knows the way. With both the blueprint and wisdom models, God’s plans for a situation may be discovered without requiring a person to be in actual communion with God. Since what we really want is to know the plans of God, the abiding presence of God becomes secondary, and worse, irrelevant.

　　Gordon Smith, theologian and president of Ambrose University, proposes an alternative approach to understanding Christian discernment. In his book, Listening to God in Times of Choice, Smith endorses the practice of actively seeking to hear the voice of God, especially in moments when one has to make difficult decisions. ¹ Smith writes, “God is present; God does speak; and if we can, if we will, hear and respond to his prompting.” ² In contrast to the blueprint and wisdom models, Smith’s approach firmly acknowledges the presence of the living God and the desire of God to speak to his people. The God of the Christian Bible loves his people and is actively engaged in leading and guiding them. ³

　　And, since God is a living God we must view Christian discernment as an intentional and dynamic process that involves continually seeking to listen to God. Rather than receiving the roadmap ahead of time and going forth at our leisure, we must stop at each juncture to ask God for directions. Smith’s model of discernment properly reorients our misguided views about God and realigns our lives in relation to God’s will. We are not ultimately in control of our own lives; we do not get to choose where we are going. Perhaps “what is God’s will in my life?” is the wrong question; instead we should ask “how should I align my will to God’s?” Such an approach to discernment is revolutionary, because it implies that the most important thing is not knowing what to do in a difficult situation, but realizing that God is in the midst of it.

　　According to Smith, the key to knowing the will of God in times of choice is to cultivate a relationship with God in which the believer is habitually aware of God’s presence and intentionally seeks to hear his voice. ⁴ In other words, we must be accustomed to hearing God’s voice on a regular basis, so that we can also hear his voice in times of choice. With the wisdom model of discernment, the believer grows in wisdom through reflection, contemplation, and the study of Scripture, so that he is able to make good decisions when times of choice come. Similarly, the believer who subscribes to Smith’s model prepares himself before the time when a decision is to be made; however, instead of growing in wisdom, he is trained to acknowledge God’s presence and to hear God’s voice in his everyday life so that when the moment of decision comes, he can rely on what has become a customary practice. Catholic scholar Father Ernest E. Larkin notes that “[d]iscernment can never be successfully carried out if it is only an occasional act that is foreign to one’s usual total life.” ⁵ This is similar to the opinion of Brother Lawrence: “That we need only to recognize GOD intimately present with us, to address ourselves to Him every moment, that we may beg His assistance for knowing His will in things doubtful, and for rightly performing those which we plainly see He requires of us, offering them to Him before we do them, and giving Him thanks when we have done.” ⁶ A discerning person is the one who is constantly aware of God’s presence and actively seeks to hear from God will.

Ways to Cultivate Awareness of God’s Presence and Attentiveness to God’s Voice

　　Since Smith’s approach to discernment relies on actively seeking to hear God’s voice in times of choice, and since God is dynamic and may respond differently to people even in the same situations, there is not one set method for determining God’s will. However, there are three ways through which we may cultivate the practice of being aware of God’s presence and actively hearing his voice: (1) worship, (2) prayer and meditation, and (3) community.

　　The goal of worship is to allow us to be aware of God’s presence. Worship reminds us of who God is and reorients ourselves in relation to God. Every time we worship, we proclaim that God is Holy and that God is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” ⁷ Marva Dawn, the American theologian best known for her work on the topic of worship, notes that “[t]he goal of the Christian life is that for more and more seconds of each day what we think and do and say is to God’s glory, that every moment is worship of the true God instead of various idolatries of our making or of our culture’s.” ⁸ Every time we worship, we are acknowledging that no matter how important we may think we are, we are not God, we are fellow-created-beings, and we are not in charge of anything. Worship is an activity by which we acknowledge God’s presence and let go of our desire for control.

　　The goal of prayer and meditation is to actively approach God and seek to hear his voice intentionally. Dallas Willard says that Christians are intended “to live in an ongoing conversation with God, speaking and being spoken to.” ⁹ Being in relationship with God involves both speaking and listening. Smith similarly suggests that friendship with God is sustained by prayer, and that “it is in prayer that we encounter the will and purposes of God and allow God to speak to our wills, our motives, our desires, and our priorities.” An example can be seen in the Lord’s Prayer, where Jesus teaches his disciples to prioritize God’s name, God’s kingdom, and God’s will above their own needs. ¹⁰ If prayer is speaking to God on God’s terms, then meditation is the way we listen to God. Richard Foster, in The Celebration of Discipline, states that one of the important goals of meditation is to remind us that “God is speaking in the continuous present and wants to address us.” ¹¹ Meditation enables one to enter the presence of God, for the purpose of hearing from God. Therefore, prayer and meditation are opportunities to practice the presence of God by tuning our minds to God’s will and desire. Brother Lawrence cultivated his prayer and meditative life to the extent that even when doing tedious kitchen work in the Carmelite Order in Paris, he was able to experience the presence of God. He writes: “[t]hat we should establish ourselves in a sense of GOD’s Presence, by continually conversing with Him.” ¹²Prayer and meditation are activities undertaken with the intention of approaching God and hearing his voice; Brother Lawrence is a good example that such an intention can be learned, practiced and cultivated. In the words of Anglican theologian Samuel Wells, prayer is “an experience of God’s ultimate purpose that his people should worship him and be his friends.” ¹³ God’s will for his people is revealed through prayer and meditation.

　　The role of the community of faith is also crucial to the process of discernment. As Smith suggests, “[w]e never discern in isolation; we discern in community.” ¹⁴ In the New Testament, the community of faith replaces the Temple as the place where God’s spirit dwells, ¹⁵ and is therefore also crucial for hearing God’s voice. God does not speak to his people in isolation; the truth of God’s revelation, whether it is obtained through Scripture, teaching, or prayer and meditation, is affirmed within the community of faith that comes before God. In the early church, tongues require interpretation, and words of prophecy are evaluated by other people in the community. ¹⁶ Important decisions, such as the commissioning of Barnabas and Paul for missionary work, were affirmed by the Holy Spirit in a communal setting of worship and prayer. ¹⁷ The church is to be a place where the voice of Jesus and the direction of the Holy Spirit, whether through Scripture or personal revelation, can be heard, tested, and affirmed by the community of God’s people. God’s presence become more real and his voice clearer, through the community of faith.

Conclusion

　　Although discernment is the primary concern of this essay, we discover that Christian discernment is actually a by-product of something much more valuable: a relationship with the living God. Willard writes, “[h]earing God is but one dimension of a richly interactive relationship, and obtaining guidance is but one facet of hearing God.” ¹⁸ We do receive guidance from God when we engage with his presence, but it is no longer our goal. The model of discernment advocated by Smith is not dependent on a specific decision-making method or a systematic formulation of theology; it is a type of spiritual discernment, in the sense of a mystical and experiential encounter with God that is facilitated by regular worship, prayer and meditation, and community. If our lives are characterized by an intentional and ongoing relationship with God, there may not be a need to “find the will of God”––we will already be walking in the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ We make specific decisions, being mindful of God’s presence and actively seeking to hear his voice in the particular situation. Similarly, the American philosopher and theologian Dallas Willard stresses the importance of human initiative in response to God’s guidance in his book Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God: “Generally speaking, we are in God’s will whenever we are leading the kind of life he wants for us. And that leaves a lot of room for initiative on our part, which is essential: our individual initiatives are central to his will for us.” ²⁰

　　As Prov 1:7 reminds us (“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge…”), the realization that God is present in our times of choice is the starting point for making wise decisions; it is also the anchor that will ensure that our actions will be done in accordance with God’s character and will. And ultimately, the realization of God’s presence is also a source comfort and peace; because God is ultimately in charge, the world will not end because we make a bad decision. God is able to work with our mistakes and limitations. As Smith articulates in another helpful book on discernment called The Voice of Jesus: Discernment, Prayer, and the Witness of the Spirit, “in the end, our confidence rests not on our capacity to choose well, but on the loving and providential care of the God who guides and whom we long to hear.” ²¹ Smith’s model of discernment “does not lead to absolute, infallible, irrefutable answers, but to an assurance that we are living and working in response to God.” ²² Peace in our decision-making comes not from being certain that our decisions are absolutely correct, but from knowing that we have done our best to make our decisions in view of God’s presence, and that our actions spring out of a desire to live in accordance with what we can know of his will.

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¹ Gordon T. Smith, Listening to God in Times of Choice: The Art of Discerning God’s Will (Grand Rapids: IVP Books, 1997). I had the pleasure of taking a course on discernment and calling with Gordon Smith during my time of study at Regent College, where I first became aware of this material. I am indebted to Dr. Smith for his tutelage and for shaping the way that I now view discernment and calling. The following essay outlines the major contours of Smith’s thinking on discernment, but readers are highly encouraged to read Smith’s insightful discussion in Listening to God in Times of Choice for themselves.
² Smith, Listening to God in Times of Choice, 17.
³ E.g. The Bible frequently introduces the image of the shepherd and his sheep to describe God’s care of and guidance over his people (e.g. Ps 23; Ezek 34, John 10:4, etc.); those with God-given leadership roles are also referred to as shepherds (e.g. Ps 78:70-72; Isa 44:28; Jer 3:15; 23:4; Ezek 37:22, 24; Zech 13:7, etc.)
⁴ Smith defines the believer’s relationship with God as one of “friendship.” Smith, Listening to God in Times of Choice, 19-20; see also Samuel Wells, God’s Companions: Reimagining Christian Ethics (Malden: Blackwell, 2006), 1-2, 9-10, 26-28, 39-41; and Dallas Willard, Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God (Grand Rapids: IVP Books, 1999), 81, 86, 122.
⁵ Ernest Larkin, Silent Presence: Discernment as Process and Problem (Denville: Dimension, 1981), 28.
⁶ Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God the Best Rule of a Holy Life: Being Conversations and Letters of Nicholas Herman of Lorraine (New York: F. H. Revell, 1895), 15.
⁷ Cf. Lev 19:2; Exod 34:6.
⁸ Marva J. Dawn, In the Beginning, GOD: Creation, Culture, and the Spiritual Life (Grand Rapids: IVP Books, 2009), 17.
⁹ Willard, Hearing God, 252.
¹⁰ In the Lord’s Prayer in Matt 6:9-13, Jesus teaches his disciples to first pray for God’s reputation (name), kingdom, and will–before they ask God to meet their needs.
¹¹ Richard J. Foster, The Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998), 24.
¹² Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God, 8.
¹³ Wells, God’s Companions, 84.
¹⁴ Smith, Listening to God in Times of Choice, 128.
¹⁵ Cf. 1 Cor 3:16; 6:19; Eph 2:21-22, etc.
¹⁶ 1 Cor 14:27-29; Cf. John 4:1.
¹⁷ E.g. Acts 13:1-3. See also Acts 1:15-26; 14:23.
¹⁸ Willard, Hearing God, 122.
¹⁹ E.g. Gal 5:16, 18, 25.
²⁰ Willard, Hearing God, 132.
²¹ Gordon T. Smith, The Voice of Jesus: Discernment, Prayer, and the Witness of the Spirit (Grand Rapids: IVP Books, 2003), 260.
²² Smith, Listening to God in Times of Choice, 23.