How to Identify the Issues in Our Lives

When we’re spending time in reflection and looking at our lives to see where we need to grow, what do we look for? How do we identify problems?

Life can get overwhelming. Depending on our family of origin, some of us have a suitcase worth of “baggage” and some of us have a semi truck. It can be daunting to figure out what needs digging into and working on first.

Thankfully, the Holy Spirit is our gentle guide to show us what He wants to bring into the light when. I’m so thankful that He doesn’t expect us to figure out all the issues at once! I’d be totally overwhelmed, but He’s the perfect teacher, shepherd and guide. He won’t overwhelm us or expect everything to change all at once.

So how does the Holy Spirit speak to us? How does He lead and guide us?

He brings conviction. He doesn’t shame us, denigrate us for who we are, or make us feel horrible about ourselves. He puts His finger on that an area of our life that needs to be brought into the light.

How does He bring conviction? Several ways…

1. While reading the Bible. God speaks to us through His Word. You might be reading the Bible and a verse stands out to you as something you need to consider in your life.

2. While hearing the Bible preached. God speaks to us through pastors and teachers. We might hear a sermon at church or on the radio and have that same sense of the Holy Spirit using a highlighter to draw our attention to something that’s said.

3. In prayer. You might be praying and feel the sense that God wants you to deal with an issue in your life. That can be the Holy Spirit prompting you and convicting you. Always check it against the Bible, though. We’re capable of deceiving ourselves and coming up with all sorts of ideas. But the Bible is our plumb line - what we check our ideas by.

4. Through Godly friends and family. God can also speak to us through others in our lives. Again, we need to check it through God’s Word.

This all assumes that we are reading the Bible, listening to sermons and teaching, spending time in prayer, and have Christian friends involved in our lives. This is one of the reasons we talk about practicing spiritual disciplines, such as prayer, Bible reading, and community. They place us into opportunities for God to speak to us.

Another important thing to remember is that we were created for community. We aren’t meant to grow in our faith in isolation. Talking with a trusted, godly friend, counselor, or pastor can help to confirm what we think the Holy Spirit is showing us. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9, NIV So “follow your heart” is NOT good advice! Discerning the Holy Spirit as opposed to our own deceitful heart can be difficult, so checking it by the Bible and godly counsel is very important.

How do you discern the Holy Spirit in your life?