A couple of years ago, I was awakened in the middle of the night by what sounded like full auto gunfire near our home. I sprung out of bed and went into full tactical mode gearing up with what I needed to protect my family not knowing where the gunfire was coming from. As I set up my defensive position, sirens blared for what sounded like responding police units.

My defensive position allowed me to look out our kitchen window. From that position, I could defend all avenues of assault on our home. As I stood watch, I saw people running down our street toward the sounds of gunfire. I thought that was a foolish thing to do allowing their curiosity to overcome rational thinking.  People continued running toward the sound of gunfire for at least half an hour as I remained on high alert prepared for whatever was coming. 

What I did not realize until the next day when I talked to our Police Chief was the sounds of gunfire were not gunfire. It was an immense tree a couple of blocks away burning and eventually consuming the surrounding homes. As the tree burned, the burning sap from the tree sent out explosions that sounded like an ongoing full-auto gunfight. People weren’t running towards danger. They were running to see the fire. From the position of our home, I could not see the burning tree. The sounds of exploding tree sap had me improperly discern what was happening. 

In uncertain times, we talk about the sons of Issachar as men who properly discerned the times in which they lived. They were “Men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (I Chronicles 12:32). We need to be in the right place to understand what is happening so we can make the right choices and respond correctly. Misinterpreting the sounds of a burning tree was a prime example of being misinformed about what was happening.

Our greatest threat today is not the events happening in our culture. Our greatest threat is an uninformed Church that will misinterpret the realities of the moment of history where we live. The understanding of the men of Issachar allowed them to know what they should do in times of peril. Not all of Israel had that gift. The men of Issachar were uniquely gifted to understand what was happening in their nation and how to respond.

The night of my misinterpretation of the sounds of a burning tree had me take up a defensive posture fighting an imaginary threat – something I could not see from my position.  One of the most important things we can pray for at this time in history is to pray for discernment when so many in the Church live without discernment. They are following the fears of things they misinterpreted that do not exist – things they were told to fear because they cannot yet see the deeper reality of the spiritual events that are unfolding before them.