Discerning Wonder: Understanding Who We ARe

In a previous article about the Working Genius model, I talked about how the name for this website, Discerning Wonder, describes me too. While it wasn’t the main reason that I named the website, Discerning Wonder, part of it was because when I took the Working Genius assessment I realized that my geniuses are discernment and wonder.

If you go back and read the first article about Working Genius, you see that I wasn’t too shocked by these results when I took the assessment. It was worded a little differently than I’d seen before, but discerning, brainstorming, wanting to make ideas, processes, and systems better, along with simply wondering why things are the way they are and what can be done about them have always been a part of my life. In fact, one of my earliest memories is standing in our kitchen as a preschooler having a conversation with my mom about something that did not make sense to me, and yes, even as a three year old I literally said, “but that doesn’t make sense.” I thought maybe that part was just in my head, but when I asked my mom a few years ago she confirmed that I did indeed say that out loud.

While that’s a funny memory, and hopefully now I’ve learned that not every thought needs to be said out loud, it still shows that who I am at my core hasn’t changed a lot. That’s not to say I haven’t grown and learned new skills and applications and how to regulate myself more. It’s also not to say that I haven’t surrendered myself to God and submitted to Him allowing His Spirit to work in me and produce fruit. What it is saying is that I’m still the person that God created me to be. God creates each of us with unique wiring, personalities, and passions. He does that because those combined with the skills, experiences, and gifts He gives us help to accomplish the purpose He has for us.

Understanding all this about how He has created and shaped us gives us moments of wonder at just how intricately God’s creation in us and around us is and how blessed we are that He loves us and cares for us that much.  It also helps us to better discern how to use all God has given us to be able to give Him, and others, our best. While I believe that ultimately our focus needs to be on God and not as much on ourselves, taking the time to understand how God has created and shaped us can be helpful.

We all have blind spots in our lives. Things we do, think, or say that we don’t recognize in ourselves, but sometimes are obvious to others. We frequently say things like “they’re too close to the situation” to explain this phenomenon. Sometimes we don’t recognize things about ourselves and others. Jesus described it like this:

“Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5)

Now, if we’re being honest here, we’re all the hypocrite at times. We all have logs of various sizes that we don’t even notice in our own eyes, and while offering to take the speck out of someone else’s eye can be rude and judgmental, sometimes it can also be loving and kind. Ultimately, like Scripture so often points, it comes down to our heart:

“but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts.” (1 Thessalonians 2:4)

God examines our hearts and we are called to as well. Sometimes that means trying to identify the logs in our eyes or the areas where we have blindspots. Getting to know more about who we are and how we interact with God and others can be helpful as we grow as a person and in relationship with God. Sometimes we can do this on our own by seeking God, applying teachings we hear and read, and using tools like assessments to illuminate things we might not be seeing. Often though, we need others who can see the logs in our lives more clearly. People who do as Proverbs 27:17 says,

“Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.”

This might come in the form of friends, small group members, accountability partners, mentors, coaches, counselors, or more. All of us can use help as we seek to grow. We all could use some discernment today to better understanding ourselves and overcome blindspots in our lives. Prayerfully consider how you can partner with God to best examine yourself and others you might need to reach out to for help.