Iron Sharpens Iron

Growing up I learned that questioning things meant I lacked faith. That I should pray and God would give me a sense of peace about my decisions. In "Lies My Pastor Told Me", Cole Brown addresses this by saying that Jesus himself felt incredible agony over God's will for his life. So much so that he sweat drops of blood. That's not the sign of someone who has a "sense of peace".

Shortly before I posted A Question, I had a great talk about school with a friend of mine. When the topic first came up I hesitated - out of fear - because her children go to a Christian school and my children go to public school. My fear was that she would think I was presenting my way as the "right" way, or the "only" way. In the moment I recognized it was actually fear motivating me to shy away from the topic, I realized that shying away from the topic would mean I'd miss out on an opportunity not only to get to know the heart of my friend better, but I'd also miss out on learning from her. We simply shared our hearts and listened to each other. Hearing her heart on the matter gave me the opportunity to be reminded that God's hand is on both of our lives and our decisions as we trust in Him. My fear could have been the thing that led to her believe that I think I'm right and she's wrong and I could have been tempted to see my way as being the only way. The time and the place was right and because we didn't hold back in fear we learned from each other. (Like iron sharpens iron.)

There is certainly a tension between comparing ourselves to others and learning about how God is leading or teaching other believers. If I'm comparing my decision against someone elses than one of two things can happen. I could build in my mind nothing but reasons as to why they're wrong and I'm right OR I will feel pressure to do things their way because I haven't thought it through for myself. Neither of these reactions are healthy or good. If I'm open to hearing where God is leading you, what wisdom you have gleaned on your own personal journey I'm pursuing wisdom and allowing God to show me things I've never considered before. I need to have God at work in my life in this way! Being led by the Holy Spirit and pursuing wisdom are inseperable. I can't truly pursue one without other.