Discerment

Glen has a very good job with good working conditions and a great compensation package. He is an electrical engineer with a manufacturing company. His boss is very pleased with his work and Glen has good chances of continued promotions. He is well liked by those with whom he works. Glen and his wife Carol have raised three children who have all left home each with established lives and careers. Glen's life is comfortable, predictable and the road ahead seems very bright.
One day, while on a break at work, Glen reads a magazine article about a water project in El Salvador. The local people are trying to develop a system of wind-generated electricity to pump water for drinking and irrigation. They are seeking expertise from an electrical engineer. The magazine article promises that the work will be very rewarding. What could be more rewarding than helping people obtain a basic necessity of life like water? However, there is a catch. The person who comes to lead this project will be paid very little, will live in a small modest room, will work with mostly untrained labourers, and the weather could be very hot! Dream job…no not really!
Glen puts the article down and goes back to work. A little later that afternoon the article reappears in his mind, then the next day and the next. He starts waking up with the project as his first thoughts. Glen becomes restless, not able to sleep well at night. Why won't this leave him? He is very comfortable with his current job, the people with whom he works, the town in which he lives, and all parts of his life. He wants to enjoy the freedom he and Carol have. He has earned this lifestyle and he is going to take pleasure from it. After a few weeks of continuously trying to rid himself of the thoughts of the project with no success Glen finally confides in Carol. He tells her about the article and the project in El Salvador and how he just can't shake the thought of these people without water. He doesn't know what to do.
Carol patiently listens to Glen and then calmly says, "Honey, maybe this is God calling you to do this work."… Glen looks at her in disbelief. God calling him…Why he hardly knows anything about God, he hasn't been to church for years. Why would God pick him? Couldn't God see that he is quite happy where he is, doing what he is doing? Carol feels Glen's despair and suggests that they pray together. They have never prayed together as a couple, but this day they do. They ask God for direction. Is this really God calling them to go to El Salvador or is Glen just too stressed and this idea has taken hold in him? Carol also suggests that Glen talk with a few trusted friends to get their opinion. One particular person Glen seeks advice from is his mentor Gary. Gary, who is about to retire, had taken Glen under his wing when he first joined the company. Gary listens thoughtfully. He too thinks this may be God nudging him and asking him to leave behind the comfortable world to help those in need. Glen contacts the people in El Salvador and learns more about the project.
After much prayer and listening for God's direction, Glen and Carol believe that this is truly God's call upon their skills and accept the idea of going to El Salvador. Glen takes an extended leave from work and they fly to their new home. Glen begins work with limited technology and with little capital for needed supplies. Many of the workers do not understand English. Quite honestly some days Glen wonders if he has made the right decision. And yet each time when it seems like he has come to a crossroad with no direction, help comes. Glen becomes more and more excited as he learns to feel and see the presence of God in his work. As he claims God's presence in his life Glen is more alive than he has been in years. After months and months of planning, construction and very hard work the windmills are generating water. Hallelujah! Glen and Carol often pray together during this time and grow closer to one another and with God. Glen says that he would never have known such joy, peace and sense of satisfaction if he had stayed in his comfortable safe, secure world. He thanks God for the call upon his skills and life.
Each one of us is called to ministry…to share the skills and talents that we have been given by God. Not all of us are called to leave our homes and families. God calls many of us to use our gifts right were we live and work. God gives us different skills, varying abilities so that all talents may be used to benefit the world. But how do we know that it is truly God calling us to do something? How does discernment happen? God's call sometimes comes as a nudging of the Spirit, like Glen reading the article and then not being able to let it go. Many will say that the principal sign of the Holy Spirit is surprise. When we have ideas that we would not have dreamed up on our own I invite you to wonder if it is God. At times God's call comes to us as someone asking us to do a particular task or project… this person sees gifts and talents in us that we honestly cannot see in ourselves. My guess is, this has happened to you. Someone comes with an outrageous suggestion that they think you can respond to, and you just know they've lost their minds. And your immediate response is, "I can't do that!" But after giving it some thought you say, "God this seems like you are calling me, let's give it a try."
Prayer is an essential part of discernment. Like Samuel, we may need to sit in silence and say to God, "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening." Samuel needed the guidance of Eli his mentor, as he did not know whose voice he heard. We too need to seek out the wisdom of our mentors and trusted friends, those in our community of faith, as God works through them as well. Someone with an outside viewpoint can see the bigger picture and help us sort through what might feel very confusing… Someone who knows us and can truly say, "Go for it…You have the God given skills to do this piece of work to which you are called." It is interesting that Eli, Samuel's mentor, has to make Samuel do what God has called him to do. We may try to avoid the call of God and a mentor or trusted friend can keep us accountable to the call.
Learning to recognize God's Word for us individually and as a community of faith may involve more than just our willingness to serve God. Like Samuel we need mentors who will help us recognize when God wants us to sit in silence and listen. We need friends like Philip who encourages Nathanael to "come and see" …to discover God's activity in our lives. We need leaders like Eli who encourage the telling of God's truth no matter how painful or life-changing that Word may be. We need those who help us recognize God's prophetic Word so that we may be faithful servants whose response to God is "Here I am."