I am sure you have experienced the painful sensation of biting your lip while eating only to relive the moment repeatedly afterward because your swollen lip finds its way back into every bite. The feeling is the same as hitting a sore thumb, catching a hang nail, or bumping a bruise. If you know what I am describing, then you have a pretty good image in your mind of how one act can result in more discomfort down the road. Even when we try to take extra precautions to avoid further pain, it will keep happening until the sore has healed completely.
This common occurrence makes me think about some of the situations we face in life. We all have personally seen the effects of how one situation can snowball into several others that are less than ideal. Have you ever thought, “Had I not done that earlier, I could have avoided all of this?” We usually make an assessment in hindsight and wish we could go back and fix things. Sometimes we even admit at the first step, “This is going to cause problems.”
As humans, we are going to face many issues, whether knowingly or unknowingly, and we must deal with the consequences. I think this is why God gives us parts of the Bible we call “practical wisdom.” Whether you are reading Job, James, Proverbs, or Ecclesiastes, you will find God teaching us how to deal with the problems of life. Some choices have unavoidable consequences while others can be corrected immediately. The ability to know what to do before, during, and after is called discernment.
The Hebrew writer describes mature Christians as those who, “have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Heb. 5:14). Often, we are thrown into practice sessions by accident when problems arise, but other times we can start early by asking, “How would I handle this situation if it happened to me?”
Job is a great example of this way of thinking. Although we know more about Job’s circumstances than he did, we can learn from his example of discernment. When we study Job, we see a blameless man examine his own life to see what led to his current situation. There was no one decision that he made that caused him the pain he felt, but he had to judge for himself how to cope with his pain. He could have chosen to listen to his wife and friends, but he chose to remain faithful. His powers of discernment helped him realize what to do. I am encouraged by Job because he provides an example of someone who knows how to face the complexities of life with proper discernment.
As we live for God, we will see how some things stick out like a sore thumb, but we must figure out how to navigate until the wound heals.
Billy Camp
Dalraida church of Christ is a congregation of Christians that meet in the mid-town area of Montgomery, Alabama. Our goal and purpose is to seek and follow God and His Word in everything that we do in life.