Discernment

 Discernment

May 12, 2026

Malachi 3:18 (NKJV) Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him.

Hebrews 5:14 (NKJV) But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, [that is,] those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell the players without a scorecard. In this mid-term election year, there is a lot said about all the candidates, mostly bad, but it’s not always easy to tell who is telling the truth. At least with politicians, you have a voting record to look at. The past doesn’t always predict the future, but it gives you some idea of their basic character. Discernment is needed to tell who has good character and who is just play acting. But one thing about stressful times is that it reveals underlying character. That is true in engineering as well. When you put materials under stress, the embedded faults appear. One thing you can say about President Trump is that he is putting his enemies under stress and revealing their hidden faults. Even the nation of Iran appeared to be a strong power until the US military applied pressure and revealed it’s hidden weaknesses. That matter remains to be fully resolved, but there is less to fear that Iran will ever be a nuclear power and threaten the whole world.

Discernment. The scriptures today tell us that there will come a time when God’s people will be able to discern between the righteous and the wicked. A time when mature Christians will discern both good and evil. We certainly are coming into a time when discernment is required. And also courage. When the wicked are revealed, it will take courage to deal with them according to their evil deeds. One of the problems with our world today is that evil men have been allowed to roam freely, pursuing their hateful acts, and bringing fear to the people. We pray for courageous leaders to emerge that will have the strength of purpose to deal with this evil and bring justice and peace to our land. So pray for our leaders and vote with wisdom that they will have discernment and courage.