I remember right before my brother transitioned, that July night in 2008. I heard very strong ” go hug your brother, go tell him you love him” It was repeated to me at least three times and the voice was so loud in my head and so strong; that I started to feel uneasy and started to question the need for me to go embrace him in a way that wasn’t typical for us. My brother and I weren’t the affection type of siblings but we knew we loved one another and we showed it in our own ways. So because that wasn’t something that we “did” I ignored that nudge. When I finally decided to get up and acknowledge him, he was already walking out the door, so I sat back down. I didn’t realize in that moment what I was losing, or better yet, I didn’t discern the voice of GOD and comprehend what He was trying to give to me and also what He was trying to save me from. God was trying to give me the opportunity to say goodbye. He was trying to spare me from years of regret and being plagued with the image of my brother walking out of the door, an image that stayed with me for years. I didn’t know that, that would be the last time that I would see him. Later on that night/early morning, my brother was taken from this world.
I share this story with you to not only share what discernment could have done for me in that moment but to speak on why discernment is so important. Now if you’ve made it to this point of this post and still don’t understand discernment and having a hard time connecting with that word, it is what some people call intuition or feeling, hearing or knowing something inside of you. It is the very thing when you’re about to go left and you feel in your spirit to go right, simple nudges like that, God will use to protect us. Discernment will keep you from a lot of unnecessary or unwanted situations. Now with that being said, discernment has to be coupled with obedience because what’s the point of having that warning or nudge and you ignore it? Just like I shared earlier, my ignoring God telling me to go and hug my brother led me to years of heartache, pain and regret…
There will be situations where everything in your spirit is telling you something may not be right for you, but disobedience and rebelliousness (which is another topic) can/will show up in those moments and you later find yourself regretting certain choices or situations you may find yourself in.
It’s not always something as drastic as being saved from an auto accident or some tragedy, often times it’s as simple as discerning whether you should eat, listen to or watch a certain thing. If your struggle is lustful thoughts and or behaviors, then it is best for you not to listen to certain music or watch certain things so that you don’t find yourself in situations doing lustful things. There are certain R&B songs that I just will not listen to ( and I don’t mean the vulgar ones) but the ones that are sweet and romantic. I don’t listen to them because I am in a season of my life where I am unmarried and I don’t want to open myself up to lustful thoughts that will lead to lustful behaviors… and I’ll be honest, that was a struggle for me in a season of my life. You also have to be mindful and discern who you should and should not allow to speak over your life and discern who to speak to and who not to speak to, meaning who you share personal things with, verses someone you do not share your personal business with.
I say this because one and most importantly, everyone is not filled with the Holy Spirit and everything someone says does not come from God, even if it does sound good. Did you catch that? You also want to be careful not to allow someone to sow the wrongs seeds into your life, whether it be doubt or anything else because seeds of doubt will sprout disruptive thinking. People will project their own insecurities, doubts and fears on you if you allow them to. Having discernment in moments like these are asking yourself or checking in with your spirit and honestly asking God is the conversation between you and that person fruitful? Do you feel uneasy about what is being said? Taking what they said back to God and not being so willing to receive what someone spoke… because what I’ve learned is, if God is promising you something, or saying something about you and your life any other outside source is only used to confirm His word. A fruitful conversation will pour into, it will sow good seeds and allow you to grow mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Now I have to say, this does not mean that fruitful conversations does not come without correction, because correction will always be necessary on this side of the earth but again there is a differences between correction and condemning. God corrects those that He loves, but He does not condemn… and that is one way you can discern if the conversation bears good fruit or not.
When I type a post out typically they are pre-written from journal entries that I write. Initially I had something else to say and another story that I was going to share but as I began to type, this post took a completely different turn. Still, essentially the same message… but without making this post too long I want to share with you one last thing. At the time that I originally wrote this down, I had a conversation with a guy from my past, someone who I haven’t spoken to in years. At that time I was consistently posting on my social media account and the content that I was putting out got his attention. He claimed to have liked the change he saw in me. Long story short in the midst of that conversation, after trying to pry into my personal life, he started trying to sow seeds of doubt in me. The spirit of discernment exposed that this person was sent by the enemy to distract me and to discourage me and to disrupt my day. After seeing it for what the real intent was I ended the conversation with this person, rebuked that whole encounter when we got off of the phone and thanked God for the revelation that came after it. I said that to say this, before the conversation I said to myself “um what does he want” and “I feel like this is about to be some mess”. In the beginning I didn’t discern what that moment was and I wasn’t intentional enough to honor what my initial thoughts and feelings were… and let me keep it real, I’m kind of nosy so there was a part of me that was curious…and that right there is why you shouldn’t entertain everything, I digress…the bottom line was he was sent to disrupt my peace.
Had I not allowed God to clean me up inside and heal me (because the conversation touched on some complex topics) I could have found myself in a space of set back and reopening doors of pain that God had already closed. In this season of my life, I cannot have fruitless conversations, but God is so good that He used that moment to give me revelation and deeper understanding of discernment.
I pray that this post blessed you and that you can relate to it in someone. Please stay encourage and be blessed. With love
~Danielle Vorece.