Voices: How and Who to Hear in a Howling Hour

Voices, Thunder, and Rude Awakenings

Is it me, or does the book of Revelation seem deeply vested in voices?

Shortly before voices mounted into thunders concerning Covid-19, social justice, tearing down our nation’s history and constitution, the tenets of “evil” capitalism and salvation by Marxism…for no immediately “apparent” reason…I felt strongly led of God’s Spirit to read the book of Revelation.

As I would go about my day, regardless of which passage I had read that morning or the night before I kept hearing as an echo in my mind that curious word…voices.

Then, one day the Holy Spirit captured my whole mind as He pointed out that what I was considering to be a symphony of voices speaking into the issues…He called a “cacophony.” You can read about that enlightening moment in my blog post, Hearing God: Is Your Life a Symphony or a Cacophony. Maybe give it a 2-minute read. See where you fall on the spectrum.

For me, it was a wake up call that turned what could have been a season of chaos into one of deep intimacy with Christ and hearing from God. Notably, it also involved not a few rude awakenings, recognition of places I needed (serious) growth…stuff most of my friends and family have probably for years been praying I would “get”.

Fascinatingly, though, the scripture spoke again and again of voices, often in the midst of thunder, lightning, earthquakes, calamities. Ain’t it the truth. The proverbial *dung* hits the fan and it seems every single one of Facebook’s 2.6 billion “active users” have something to say about it.

Voices.

Some just crying out to be heard, to vent, to get it off their chest…some looking to pummel the perceived source of their frustration…many saying whatever they feel they ought to escape said-pummeling or *second* someone else’s rant.

Thunder.

Lighting.

Earthquake.

Chaos.

Facts Schmacts

Around that time, I had cried out to Papa God to guide me to reputable, reliable “voices”…because thankfully I hadn’t lost complete confidence that the world still retained some sanity. In fact, I believed much better than that. The problem was not whether honest people with sincere motivations and the appropriate knowledge-base existed…

…but how I could possibly hope to find one, recognize one when I saw one, and not just one that appeased me…but really truly someone to be listened to and trusted?

We are in a time when the “facts” are routinely twisted to fit narratives so that we can’t even identify which facts are actually facts and which, if any, are actually useful.

I’m not here to debate or even much discuss differing opinions (although, spoiler alert, you will be exposed to at least part of what I think concerning schools reopening this Fall).

Rather, I want us to think about thinking, determine how to determine what voices are even worth a half-watched at 2x/speed youtube five minutes.

I’ll preamble by saying that I believe in brands….and brand loyalty…because I believe in relationship. Though we might be less likely to have regular conversations with the butcher, the baker, the milkman or the seamstress…we have regular interactions with brands, including media personalities. Both of these have histories, track records, observable biases, and a discoverable “wake” that follows them. 

Facebook…the Perfect Place for Deep & Meaningful Discourse

Oh, wait, no…it’s not at all.

Still, despite that I usually avoid using facebook to achieve that for which face-to-face discussions are much better suited, I did offer a response to someone I respect and appreciate on a facebook post. He’d expressed deep frustration and fear concerning “the facts”. He sounded powerless to me…like our only hope was to pick the most paternalistic, fear-based option available.

I realized…I did not want to just feed him my favorite facts, talking points, or data. I would just have been another voice among voices trying to persuade or push or whatever it is we try and accomplish on darned facebook posts (as if!).

Of greater urgency to my heart is our need for discernment. Though the thunderstorm rages, we are not without faculties to see past chaos and make reasonably good judgments.

So…I pray that what I offered to him is helpful to you; and infinitely more wonderful, that God’s voice would pierce through all noise, like a flash of lightning, giving you clarity, conviction, peace, direction, and confidence as you boldly say yes to whatever He says.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me (John 10:37).

Here is ‘tis. I’ve made some highlights because…well…in case you’re a skimmer.

[Name deleted] you bring up such an important problem. Isn’t it brilliant of our “enemy” that…in an ‘age of information’ when in the very palm of our hand we can access historical books and articles and information as far as recorded history with even ancient texts often available in PDF form…

In this very ‘age of information’ we briefly enjoyed a renaissance, of sorts, where we could find data, weigh evidence, and draw our own conclusions…it was never perfect but then our clever enemy used that strength against us by simply adding **more** information…in fact…conflicting “information”…introduced information OVERLOAD…and then simply injected mis-information.

That is what the liar and the deceiver does…

…but as Christians, we are not left simply and only to numbers, or black letters on a glaring screen.

God has given us one another. He has given us His Spirit who imparts to us DISCERNMENT. He will lead us into all truth, the Bible promises. He is not the God of confusion or chaos but He brings singleness of mind and heart.

I will say that early-on during the initial shutdowns, I cried out to our amazing God and asked Him to please connect me with news and information sources of which He approved.

None of them are perfect but I don’t need perfect. I have God to help me disseminate the information and let Him direct my heart’s response…

 …but I am grateful that God DID answer my cry and He DID point me to reputable sources.

Some I already knew and many were new to me. First, I had to assess people’s character as best I could.

In a time when there are opposing “facts” being released from every direction, and emotionally driven opinions being touted as facts or as “truth,” in a time when noise dominates, we must not allow ourselves to be confused and frightened and thereby controlled by the “safest bet,” which is what I am hearing from you. Without a clear sense of which voice is telling us the truth, how could you draw any other conclusion than to obey the one that, again, seems safest.

Only…it’s not the safest, not by a long shot. But I think that is a separate discussion.

We all need each other’s perspectives and viewpoints and so here I’ll offer you mine. I think that many people need to learn how to “vet” out the voices they will allow to speak into their beliefs. Key questions I ask myself before investing my time in any expert, commentator, journalist or other media personality:

…when they spoke, did they incite fear in me?

…did they leave me feeling hopeless?

…did they mostly or even entirely target my raw emotions without offering verifiable data?

…as I listen to…not one…but multiple pieces of their content…what underlying message do I hear? Is it godly? Is fearful or fear-mongering? Is it faith-filled?

Does it inspire me to good works and faithfulness…or to frustration, criticism, and even hopelessness?

No doubt, I could go on. There are some people who I found to be 50/50 and so I don’t always give them my ear. There are a few that every time I listen to them, I walk away informed but not overwhelmed to the extent I feel powerless.

You of course will have your own process, but from what you said in your previous comment, it sounds like there are so many voices, too many voices, and you don’t have any you feel you can really trust. Or maybe I’m wrong and you just trust the very same people that I don’t trust at all.

But from the sources I believe were God-directed…from the people whose voices I have carefully selected as ones I will listen to and consider…the consensus is that those under 18 yrs old are statistically insignificantly affected by Covid-19…that they also statistically do not pass Covid-19 to adults…and that the medical community has OVERWHELMINGLY agreed that kids should and must go back to school for a great many reasons.

It is overly simplistic to think that we are solving a problem by keeping kids home and assume we are not potentially (and actually) causing much greater damage by so-doing.

I really appreciate this show “Uncommon Knowledge” with Peter Robinson who has more than a decade track record of excellence, interviewing some of our generation’s greatest authors, professors, researchers and thinkers. This is just one! It was done last month. It’s just one of a few good ones reporting on the science we now have concerning Covid-19…but I found it quite thorough and puts some extra focus on the “cost of the lockdown” which is extremely important to understand. For instance, cancer patients not getting life saving treatments due to Covid-restrictions (e.g. “non-essential” procedures somehow including chemotherapy).

Here’s the link to that vid one last time, The Doctor Is In: Scott Atlas and the Efficacy of Lockdowns, Social Distancing, and Closings.

Pertinent to the real point of this post, I think of far greater value than the video…is discovering the channel and host. I hope you’ll dig into more of what Peter Robinson has to offer as a voice. He was one of “the good ones” I’ve really enjoyed discovering.

Let me know what you thought of this! If you check out the vid, come back and share your reactions! Love you, bless you, praying for you!