The Spirit of Discernment

When we read this passage in Acts 16 together with 2 Corinthians 7, we see something that might offend the way that we think about the Holy Spirit, and in particular how we discern his voice and guidance. In Acts 16, Paul receives a dream that tells him to go to Macedonia, while in 2 Corinthians 7:5, he says that he discerned “within”  that he was meant to move on from Macedonia —  through the emotion of fear. Paul seems to equate his own “fears within” with the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  

Have you ever had trouble discerning whether it was God speaking or if you were feeling your own emotions? Many people speak of feeling “peace” as an assurance that God is leading them somewhere. If we cry or experience emotion in worship, we often assume that it’s God’s Spirit. What is the relationship between our own emotions and thoughts and the voice of the Holy Spirit? And why does Paul seem to blend the two — his troubled mind with his discernment of God’s will for his missionary journey? 

The 16th-century Saint Ignatius of Loyola is famous for his methods of discerning God’s guidance, and centuries later his tools remain helpful for Christians in many traditions all over the world. In contrast to the accidental dualism present in many church circles today (i.e., it’s either emotions or it’s God, never both), he offers a privileged place for emotions in the discernment process. If the Holy Spirit is the God who dwells within us, could he not also influence, speak, or come to us through the emotions inside of us?  

What is our relationship to our emotions? Do we mostly trust our emotions, or are we mostly skeptical of our emotions? Do we tend towards shaming or being afraid of our emotions, or do we tend towards the other end of the spectrum —  overindulging and putting our emotions in the driver’s seat of our life? Perhaps there is a holy “third way” in the middle — a process of slowly discerning how God is speaking to us through our emotions. The language that the Ignatian tradition provides for this is the language of consolation and desolation — the same language Paul uses in 2 Corinthians 7 as he is describing his discernment process to the Corinthians.  

Jesuit Father James Martin describes consolation  as “the sense of God’s presence and those interior feelings that lead to peace, tranquility, and joy.” He describes desolation as “anything that moves you towards hopelessness, [agitation, or restlessness]” (The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything:  A Spirituality for Real Life (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2010),  316). This is a deeper process than simply “if it feels good, it’s God,” but rather is a way to prayerfully bring our interior world before God and community to invite both to help us discern how the Spirit might be leading us through these movements.  

I’ve heard many say things like “I don’t want to do  this thing, and therefore God must be asking me to  do it.” While God does call us to sacrifice and hard things — a proper understanding of the way the Spirit of Discernment leads would be to say that even if something God is calling us to do requires sacrifice or hardship, the Spirit of Discernement will often lead us through a sense of rightness, peace, and even joy in the middle of it.  

Paul prays frequently that the early churches would know and do the will of God for their lives. He prays for the Colossians that they would be “filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Colossians  1:9). He tells the Romans that the goal of their spiritual formation and the renewing of their minds is so that they might “discern what is the will of God” (Romans 12:2).  

How often have we appreciated the Holy Spirit’s role in helping us to know and do the will of God? And have we honored how the Spirit might be using our emotions in all of this? How might God be leading you through your emotions today?  

Take a few deep breaths. Maybe as you breathe in, pray “Come,” and as you breathe out, pray “Holy Spirit.” 

• Today, I’d love to invite you to try a small Ignation discernment exercise.  Hold a decision you are making before the Lord. I’ve found it helps to be as clear as possible about the decision I am trying to make — is there a particular question you’d like to ask the Spirit of  Discernment? 

• Imagine holding one potential option, choice, response to this question, or path before the Lord — and do you feel drawn to love, peace, and joy? Or do you feel drawn towards what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7 — agitation, anxiety, or “fears within”? 

• If you feel clearly moved in one direction or the other, spend some time talking to the Spirit of Discernment about it. If it is not clear, invite the Spirit of Discernment to move your heart one way or the other as you continue to hold this question before him. Trust the process and the pace, and invite your community in!

Best,

Ryan

P.S. I am overjoyed to share that there are 29 more devotionals just like this in our brand new prayer resource — Come, Holy Spirit: 30 Days of Growing in Friendship with God. What would it feel like to live in a daily, interactive, conversational relationship with God the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit lives on the inside of us, and yet we can’t see him or hear him audibly. Audaciously, Jesus promises that it would be better if he leaves and the Holy Spirit comes! This 30-day devotional is based on 30 attributes of the Holy Spirit revealed throughout the storyline of Scripture to help us discover the treasure of friendship with God on the inside of us and grow in a daily, interactive relationship with him. Check it out at restlessheartsrestingplaces.com/store.