Part 5 of Series
How do you know what is truly yours… and what has simply passed through you long enough to feel like it belongs?
That question is not philosophical. It is foundational. Because most people are living their entire lives without ever separating the two.
We have been trained to trust what we see, what we hear, what we can logically process. We lean heavily on our senses, on reason, on what can be explained. And yet, if we are honest, even science has already told us that what we perceive is only a fraction of what actually exists. Quantum physics points to it. Spiritual traditions have always pointed to it. There is a vast, unseen reality operating alongside the physical one we navigate every day. Some teachings say 98 percent of reality is unseen. Whether you approach that from a quantum lens or a spiritual one, the implication is the same.
You are not just interacting with what you see.
You are being influenced by what you don’t.
And that changes everything.
Because if most of reality is unseen, then discernment becomes essential. Not optional. Not a nice-to-have spiritual concept. Essential.
Discernment is the ability to recognize what is aligned and what is not. What is truth and what is distortion. What is yours and what never was.
And the problem is, most people don’t have it.
Not because they’re incapable, but because they’ve never been taught how to develop it.
We rely on our senses. We rely on logic. We rely on what feels good or looks right. And in doing so, we become incredibly easy to mislead.
Because not everything that looks like light… is light.
Not everything that feels comforting… is truth.
Not everything that sounds wise… is aligned.
There are things that mimic.
There are things that present themselves as good, as helpful, as holy even, and underneath it, something is off.
You’ve felt it before.
That subtle tightening in your gut. The hair on the back of your neck rising for no obvious reason. That internal pause that doesn’t come from fear, but from knowing.
And then you override it.
Why? Because it doesn’t make sense.
Everything on the surface says it’s fine and you’ve been taught to trust the external over the internal.
I’ve had this happen more times than I can count. Sitting in church, listening to a pastor or watching a worship team, and suddenly becoming aware of something that doesn’t match what’s being presented. Not in a judgmental way. Not in a critical way. But in a way that is unmistakable.
There is a presence some people carry.
An energetic density.
A darkness that doesn’t show up as a color, but as a void.
It lingers in the eyes. Not empty, but consuming. It’s not something you can point to and explain, but it’s something you feel immediately. A frequency that unsettles the body. That creates a quiet anxiety in the gut. That makes you want to step back, even if everything around you is saying step forward.
And these are not people outside the walls.
These are people inside them.
Wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Not a metaphor.
A reality.
And they are everywhere.
They always have been. They always will be.
Scripture is not vague about this. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” Matthew 7:15.
The question is not whether they exist. The question is whether you can see them and more importantly, whether you can feel them.
Because discernment is not just intellectual. It is embodied. It is spiritual. It is something that requires you to be in tune with more than just your thoughts.
This is where modern psychology, for all of its value, begins to show its limitations.
We analyze. We categorize. We diagnose. We explain behavior through trauma, conditioning, neurochemistry. And again, those things matter. They are part of the picture.
But when they become the entire framework, we lose access to something deeper.
We begin to believe that if we can just understand something, we can resolve it. That logic alone will guide us. That if it makes sense, it must be right and that is not true, because deception is rarely illogical. In fact, it is often incredibly convincing. It can sound wise. It can sound compassionate. It can even sound spiritual.
C.S. Lewis said it in a way that is difficult to ignore. “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”
But I would take that a step further. The next greatest trick is convincing people that everything can be explained without him.
That nothing spiritual is at play.
That everything is just… you.
Your mind. Your past. Your wiring.
And while those things are real, they are not all that is real.
This is also where I want to gently challenge another common belief.
The idea that faith alone is enough to discern.
“I just pray about it.”
“I just trust God.”
And while prayer and faith are foundational, they are not passive.
Discernment is not something that drops into your lap because you believe.
It is something that is cultivated.
It is something that requires attention, awareness, and alignment.
You can pray and still ignore what your spirit is showing you.
You can have faith and still override the quiet warning that rises within you, because discernment requires participation.
It requires you to listen beyond the noise. To question what feels off. To sit in the discomfort of not immediately understanding something and to trust that not everything needs to be logically resolved in order to be spiritually recognized.
One of the lines in Everyday Demons that continues to stand out to me is this. Not every thought is yours, and not every presence is visible, but both can shape your life if left unexamined.
That’s the reality.
You are constantly filtering information, emotion, influence and if you are not actively discerning what belongs and what does not, you will absorb what was never meant to stay.
Another piece from the book that feels relevant here is this. Discernment is not about fear of the dark, but clarity in the light. It is knowing what resonates as truth even when everything around you is convincing you otherwise.
That’s the work.
Not paranoia.
Not suspicion of everything and everyone.
Clarity. Grounded, steady, quiet clarity.
When you have that, you don’t need to prove anything. You don’t need to explain everything. You simply know. And that knowing guides your choices. Who you listen to. Who you trust. Where you place your energy. What you allow into your body, your mind, your space, because at the end of the day, this is not just about identifying darkness.
It is about protecting alignment.
Your alignment.
Your connection to truth.
Your ability to walk through a world that is both seen and unseen without being pulled in every direction.
This is not fear-based.
It is responsibility, because whether you acknowledge it or not, you are being influenced.
The only question is whether you are aware of it.
And awareness is where discernment begins.
When was the last time you ignored your gut… and later realized it was right?
Let’s talk about it below.
And share this with someone who needs to trust themselves a little more.
As always loving and praying for you and our world,
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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Photo credit: Rene’ Schooler (Author)
