I’m Hearing Voices, Are you?

Have you ever seen a movie where someone is hearing voices. Voices beyond what everyone else can hear. Today’s television shows and movies tend to categorize people that are hearing voices to either be labeled the “crazy” person in the show, the scary villain doing what the voices say, or the voices are labeled as super powers that the hero uses to save the day.

Whatever the category for our entertainment on the screen, the actor hearing voices is never seen as a “normal” or “average” person. Hearing voices isn’t a behavior we classify with ordinary humans. In fact, in the therapeutic world, you are scared to tell your therapist you are hearing voices for fear of being quickly labeled with Schizophrenia. There are a lot of other factors that go into diagnosing someone with Schizophrenia so fear not. But, when someone has symptoms of a certain mental health disorder without matching up with all the criteria, we might tell that person they have schizophrenic tendencies, or something of that nature. “Tendencies” explains symptoms that are in line with a mental health condition without a full diagnosis.

So with that background of information, I want to admit to you that I have been hearing voices. (Please don’t stop reading here without an explanation)

There are voices in my head. Voices that if you are sitting in a room with me you won’t be able to hear. They are talking to me constantly, sometimes so frequently that I don’t even recognize the whispers and screams in my ear. I am so accustomed to being followed around by these voices all day that it doesn’t even seem strange, it is apart of my life now.

Ok, now your starting to think I am crazy aren’t you?

So let’s level the playing field a bit so we can work through this together. Are you ready for it?

You are hearing voices all day long too, and if you had a strange look on your face hearing me admit that I do it than you are probably in so deep you don’t even recognize them.

All day long, we hear voices that remind us of our regrets, trigger us into anger, tell us that we deserve to buy that material item and it will make us happy. Voices that are looking around to see if people notice you and interpreting the non-verbal cues about yourself you get from others. Voices telling you if you are loved or hated, or invisible to the people around you. Voices that scream at you when you put on that outfit at 7:00 in the morning and glance at it in the mirror and say words that point out everything wrong with your body. Voices that remind you of what your boss, co-worker, or difficult family member have said that pierced your heart and connected you with how to view your identity.

Yep, you hear them too. But I am able to write them out so detailed, because we are broken together. We both have ‘schizophrenic tendencies’. I’ll hold your hand if you’ll hold mine and let’s join a support group together. We won’t feel as crazy if we know there is more than just the two of us struggling with this.

So what do we do now? We have a self-admitted problem, now its time for the prescription to help make us better and make this go away. What do they sell at the pharmacy that can cure us of this?

Problem is that I don’t think I have ever seen a Bible sold at the pharmacy, but in reality, right around the medications that help with depression, thoughts of hopelessness, extreme lack of motivation, and anxiety, there should be a shelf full of Bibles. One of the things that the people with a lot of these struggles are dealing with is that they are hearing voices, and the loud ones are the wrong ones.

Medicine won’t make the voices go away, it may just soften them down. What we need to combat the bad voices with is to hear the other ones, the voices of Truth.

You know how you can have a large group of friends, but you have that one friend that is straight up honest with you. When you try on that outfit everyone says, “that looks great”, but there is that friend that you will believe whatever they say because you know they will flat out tell you if it looks good or not. They aren’t afraid to tell you the truth.

You need to become best friends with the Holy Spirit! When every voice in your head is telling you lies, you need the Holy Spirit that you have a relationship with through Jesus. He needs to be that friend that no matter what all the “friends” in your head are telling you, the only one you believe is the Holy Spirit’s voice telling you what to see.

Reminding you that you are a child of God (Gal. 3:26), that you are loved by your Creator (1 Jn 4:9,10), that you are known and seen by your God (Ps. 139:1-4), that He walks beside you always (Ps. 16:8), that you can find peace on a day filled with rage (Jn. 14:27), that you have potential and that there are plans that God has for you (Jer. 29:11).

We all hear voices. All. Day. Long. Christian leaders aren’t telling you to read your Bible everyday to check it off your “I’m a good Christian checklist”, they tell you to read your Bible as a defense for the voices all day that are at war in your head. There is a prescription for hearing voices, it is choosing to believe and listen to the voice of Truth! Know the Truth, read about it, become Best Friends with it, so that you will be able to discern its voice among the others.

“Then you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.” John 8:32    

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