Wisdom or the Whirlwind?

Tammi and I recently made a quick trip to visit our parents that live in a small town in NE Oklahoma. Tammi was raised in the town and I lived there a few years before moving away about (28) years ago. The town is typical of a small town with lots of interpersonal connections, families that have been there for generations, certain nuances that give it a distinct personality and, the one thing that I had forgotten about, clan mentality and gossip.

I have become accustomed to the city where people keep to themselves and go about their personal business, which has its pro’s and con’s. The negative aspect of the city is that it’s very impersonal and can be unforgiving if you struggle taking care of yourself. This is remedied by being a part of a church or organization where you can develop relationships in a smaller setting. The positive aspect of the city is that most people approach situations with a much more pragmatic thought process. People are not usually quick to get involved or take sides when faced with exterior conflict, they generally stay neutral, mind their own business and wait to see how things play out.

So why are you writing this John? Glad you asked….. let me share a lesson that I’ve learned a few times but maybe it will stick this time.

During our visit to the small town, Tammi and I spent the vast majority of our time driving between our parents houses spending time with them. We have many friends we would like to see, however, we just didn’t have time since this was a quick visit. On our last evening, we decided to visit extended family that were not at home but at one of the town recreation spots. Shortly after arriving at this somewhat crowded event, we witnessed an incident that apparently had been brewing in this small community for some time. The whole situation seemed very petty as one person went on a cursing tirade causing a big scene…. we thought it was somewhat comical (city mentality), although those involved likely did not see it that way. Once it ran its course, we went on about our business with family, kids, etc. and returned to our parents home a couple hours later. The following day, we traveled back to Houston and settled back into our routine.

Here’s where I screwed up…..

A couple days went by and as I was wasting time scanning through Facebook, I ran across a post that was shared by an old friend in that small town that was a statement made by the person who was the source of the tirade that we had witnessed a few nights earlier. It was basically a rallying cry to whoever would listen stating they were innocent of the whole debacle and others were at fault. Once I read the erroneous statement, I made the decision to chime in and state what I witnessed….. BAD decision! I should have just scrolled on and let it play out because I quickly realized that the clan-mentality and gossip vultures were already circling overhead waiting for someone to take the bait…. I somehow became a part of some deep conspiracy to undermine this poor individual because of my relation to people the individual despised. Some people began to mis-characterize who I was, people began voyeuring my Facebook profile trying to figure out who this evil conspirator was, I found myself trying to defend my credibility and becoming frustrated in the process… people did not want to hear truth, they were not interested in common sense, they were solely focused on choosing a side nearest their fellow clansman.….. at that point, I realized this was a ridiculous situation involving some extremely ignorant folks that were just looking for a fight. I went through the post, deleted all my comments and returned to my peaceful life.

As I laid in bed last night, many things that I saw on this post that was shared over (100) times and had almost (400) comments on it, ran through my head. I was really surprised at the mentality of many of the people that were ready cancel the venue based on untruth, say very mean things to people they do not know anything about, attack others without having any knowledge of the facts and seek to destroy others just because they enjoy it… yes, somebody actually stated they are only there to mess people up. As I was thinking about this, my thoughts went to everything that has happened over the past year; how people were so willing to believe lies and how the media has totally manipulated the populace. The quickness in which people will cancel something based on very little substance is shocking. This is how we’ve gotten to the point that good is evil and evil is good… I’ve always wondered what it would look like and we are there! ….. very sad and hard to get your mind around it.

In conclusion, here’s the lesson I got from this; hopefully it will help someone else avoid issues down the line. As I was asking the Lord to clear my mind so I could sleep last night, I really felt convicted by His Spirit about the whole ordeal. I should have had the wisdom to avoid the conflict and if I would have just stopped and asked Him for direction, there is no doubt I would have never spoke up at all and let the small town handle their garbage as they see fit. I asked God to forgive me for not waiting for His leading and asked for His wisdom going forward. I then asked the Lord if I should get back on that post to repent to those on the thread and I clearly heard Him say, “NO!!!”. Lol, not because I can’t be humble but because I would be crucified and thought to have been repenting for truth rather than motive. If I follow God’s leading, He’ll never steer me wrong, He’ll always have my back and He will fight the battles….. if I don’t follow His leading, I’ll reap the whirlwind of this world. Common sense is not so common anymore; think before you speak or post and allow His still small voice to guide you….