Discernment

I had a dream last night, that really put things into perspective.

A good friend was wanting to take a hot air balloon ride for her birthday and she wanted her friends to join her. I was nervous. Heights, not my favorite thing but it was also something I have thought often how awesome it would be to do. As we neared the loading station to get in I noticed one of our friends was gripping tightly along side the basket. She seemed incredibly tense. We all got in, she was still stiff as a board.

Analogy: You know when try to stick a pup or a cat into the water for the first time and they are clinging to you for dear life, trying to hold on so tightly, hoping you won't make them do it? Yeah, that's kinda similar to what our sweet friend was going through.

I looked at her and said I'm so sorry. She looked at me, eyes as big as silver dollars and said, "I DON'T want to do this!" My response, yeah, I feel ya, I'm a little bit nervous too. Angrily she looked back at me and responded, "Are we really going to do this, just go up, to make her happy?!"

And then I woke up.

Man! I hate when I miss the ending!

But, at 4 in the morning, this got my wheels spinning and my good night's sleep was done.

-Discernment-

A word that's been incredibly present in my life quite often, especially this past year.

We were all loaded up in that basket, and our terrified friend was about to do something for the sake of pleasing her close friend, she was struggling with the thought of letting her down, but deep inside she knew, it was not where she wanted to be.

I'll never know what my brain was going to lead me to do in that dream. I have an idea of what I should of done, being the middle man I was, but... I'll never know for sure.

As I look back, I think of discernment and this verse above. The Lord has different plans for us all. He wants to guide us down the pathway intended for our lives. He uses us in unique ways for a reason. And it's a wonderful gift, the gift of discernment. To be able to just know where you need to go, what you should or shouldn't do. It's also very tough at times to truly discern something when you are in those moments of quick thinking. When your brain is having to think fast, quick and we are looking around, trying to absorb the situation as a whole and make a big choice that may alter things forever.

That's where our relationship with our Lord becomes so important. The more time we spend with him, the more we recognize the path He is chosing for us.

And...

The Lord never leads with fear.

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Dearest Heavenly Father,

I pray to You today. Help me stay close in my relationship with You, so that I may strongly have the ability to discern the path You have chosen for my life, to be done according to Your will. Create in me a spirit of courage so that I may be able to take leaps in or out of circumstances I feel aren't suitable for the path You want me to walk down. And help me feel that grace of Your endless mercy, so that I may continue to grow closer to You each and every day. Dear Lord, Your gift of discernment enlightens our souls. Thank You for allowing us to grow into this precious gift each and every day.

Amen