Growing up, I desired to be the loud popular girl. You know the ones. Standing in the hallways with a group of teenagers surrounding them, they capture the attention of all who hear their story. By the end of the school day, everyone knows what the story is. Since I was quiet and shy, I believed no one heard me. Even though I would spend weekends in another state competing with a Bible quiz tournament and meeting lots of friends, no one knew my story, until a teacher gave me a voice.
Since those Bible quiz tournaments gave scholarships, my senior English teacher had me explain to my classmates what I had done the weekend before. Once I finished, I realized that my peers enjoyed my story. At the end of the day, people I didn’t even know knew about my extended weekend. The next day, the story went back to the popular girls, but I had my one moment. Reflecting on my “one moment,” I realize that most of us are like high school teenagers who focus on the loud voices and occasionally we hear the voices that project wisdom into our lives. We must turn the occasions of hearing the quiet voices into the majority of what we listen to.
The people with the loudest voices are not always the right voices that we should listen to or follow. Many times, the loud voices are just noise. They repeat what they hear in the propaganda that they follow. There is no newness or creativity in their words. The soft quiet voices offer wisdom along with empowerment and encouragement. For the past few years, I have had to understand which voices would speak into my life and which voices wouldn’t.
First, I had to discern between the right voices and the wrong voices. The right voices do not demand. They are not rude. They suggest and they give advice because the right voices have listened first. Wrong voices just want to spout their rightness. Right voices want to speak into your life and bring life into you.
Next, the wrong voices are always loud. They clap in your face and try to convince you that you are wrong. Many of the wrong voices hide their faces and use their fingers on social media. They scream that if you do not agree with them, they will shun you as they delete you as a friend. It’s a form of manipulation as they are trying to make others question their own perception in life. Manipulation is not a form of a love. Manipulation is not a form of friendship. Allow those people to leave your life and bring into your life the voices that are wise and allow your voice to speak too.
Finally, the wrong voices do not cheer for you but only speak so they can be heard. They are like those teenagers that want everyone to hear their story and not anyone else’s. Even though their words may sound correct, and at times they may be correct, they may not be the right words for you or the right time for the words to be spoken to you. You cannot always avoid the wrong voices, but you can drown them out with allowing more of the right voices in your life.
Take time to discern who those people are that give you wisdom and the best advice for you. Follow the advice of James in the book of James and be quick to listen and slow to speak and follow people who do the same.
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