Not Discerned

Sometimes the problem is not in receiving the Spirit. We have. Once we have received the Spirit, though, we need to learn how to discern when it is God speaking to us and when it is not.

What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, "Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:12-16 NIV)

Things that God calls us to do will often times not make sense unless we have the Spirit. Even when we do have the Spirit of God, it won't make sense unless we discern that the direction is coming from God. We need to learn to recognize God's voice.

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. (1 Kings 19:11-12 NIV)

Perhaps we don't have the benefit that Elijah had, with God getting our attention with a powerful wind, an earthquake, and a fire to prepare us for His whisper. We do have a benefit, though, that Elijah didn't have. We have all of these stories compiled together into one book - stories of God interacting with people throughout the ages. The book? The Bible.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV)

So how about you? Can you discern the voice of God when compared to other voices? Do you read God's Word to learn to recognize God's voice? When the Holy Spirit speaks to you, do you know it? How do you discern?