Too Hurried to Notice?

     Today, my personal story is not as easy to share as the majority of

others I have told. Probably because only a few,  if any, of you will be able to relate. Well, unless you are Jessica Simpson. Twenty years ago, Dwayne was a salesman. A guy that he worked with was very heavy and was going on Weight Watchers and Dwayne said he would support him and eat healthy with him. I wanted to be the good, supportive, little wife, so, I went and bought Dwayne all the healthy food he would need to assist him on his new commitment. Day one: Dwayne comes home for lunch prepared by his loving wife. I served him a plate with crackers, canned chicken, some raw vegetables, and cottage cheese: perfectly arranged to be aesthetically tempting to the palate. Within minutes, he said something about the tuna he was eating. I had never bought canned chicken before, so I started to explain to him that it was chicken; how it actually comes in a can, like tuna, but is chicken. He accepted this new information for a couple of bites and then declared, “it’s tuna!”  Now, I had already explained to him the facts and I was starting to get frustrated. He was getting upset because he ‘knew’ what he was eating. In those young married days, we could have some of the stupidest arguments and fights and whether something was chicken or tuna was right up there at the top of the list! Back and forth we went: “it’s tuna”, “no it’s chicken”, “no, it’s tuna”, “it’s chicken”!  Finally, I had to stop the madness. I went and dug the empty can of chicken out of the trash, held it up to his face, pointed to the words, and proclaimed with victory . . . “See, it says right here on the can, Chicken of the Sea!”  As soon as the words came out of my mouth, reality told me I was going to live with this mistake for the rest of my life. I really did know that Chicken of the Sea was tuna!  However, when I went to the store I was trying to hurry.  I had two preschoolers distracting me with their normal shopping behavior and when I got to the canned meat section, I grabbed 10 cans Starkist tuna, then looked for the canned chicken. My eyes then landed on the word ‘chicken’, and the I grabbed those 10 cans of chicken; alias Chicken of the Sea!  The rest of the story, as they say, is history!

     One of my greatest flaws is I make stupid mistakes when I am in a hurry or preoccupied. It is as if I'm blinded to anything other than what I think I see. When this happens to me spiritually, it can start to affect my joy and sometimes can be very costly. When we get busy and preoccupied as Christians, we do not take the time to practice discernment. Without discernment we can end up having things in our life which cause us to become spiritually unhealthy. As young adults who are learning to apply Christian values to life, not only is life busy with activities, babies, toddlers, and family, but you haven’t fully developed your skills of discernment yet. Only time and experience can help us with discernment. Discernment is one of my spiritual gifts and yet, it has matured over the years with trials and errors. Discernment is the trait of judging wisely and objectively, it is the perception of that which is obscure, and the mental ability to understand and discriminate between relations.
     How can we perceive the obscure, discriminate the relations between things, and judge objectively, if we don’t slow down and take our focus off the distractions of life? I believe this is why we need the council of other Christians. I need someone who loves me and who is committed to the same Christian principles that I am, to help me see and understand when I cannot. We need spiritually older Christians to help us see the obscure things in life. However, in today's’ times there is a prevalent philosophy that everyone should mind their own business and should deal with their lives on their own. I understand the truth that many Christians have practiced judgment without love and humility and abused their responsibility. However, mentoring, practiced in a Godly manner, is beneficial and needed to encourage, support, and strengthen our fellow Christians.
     How is your discernment? Are you paying attention to life or are you running from it living in a whirlwind? Are you open to someone to help you see the obscure; like chicken of the sea is really tuna? Give someone your love and trust. Give them permission to point out things in your life that could be hurtful to you. Ask them to help you develop discernment and be open to hearing what you might not want to hear. You will be a better person for it!  My prayer for you is the same as Paul wrote to the Ephesians.

I couldn’t stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed; I’d think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank, I ask-ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is He is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life He has for His followers, oh, the utter extravagance of His work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!

Ephesians 1:16-19 (The Message)