Navigating the Ocean of Information

We returned home yesterday afternoon after having spent last week aboard a cruise ship.  I did very little unpacking yesterday afternoon; that will be my task for today.  Unpacking and laundry.  If you need me, that's where I'll be!

Yesterday afternoon I sat in my favorite chair, with coffee in a favorite mug, looking forward to sleeping in my own bed with my own pillow, and I began the process of "re-entry" into my normal life.  I checked the hundreds of e-mails that had accumulated while I was gone, and I made frequent use of the "delete" button. Then I moved on to Facebook and began catching up there.  It was while I was scrolling through Facebook that I came across this quote:

"What a culture we live in.  We are swimming in an ocean of information, and drowning in ignorance."

That is a powerful statement, isn't it?  We are bombarded daily with more information than we know what to do with.  There's social media.  And the twenty-four hour news cycle.  The phone beeps and buzzes and dings.  Tweets are flying back and forth.  Politicians never stop talking.  It goes on and on and on.

Yet even with all this information, are we any more knowledgeable?  How do we sort through all this information to know what is truth and what isn't?

The reality is that in spite of all the tweeting and the talking, everything we read or see or hear is not truth.  The one who talks the most or talks the loudest is not necessarily the one we should be listening to.

Albert Einstein is credited with having said, "What is popular is not always right, and what is right is not always popular."

In our media-driven world, that's an important truth to remember.  As we are bombarded with information daily, much of it misinformation, how do we know who or what to pay attention to? How do we filter through all the information that comes our way? How do we prevent ourselves from drowning in ignorance?

The answer is discernment, defined as the ability to judge well.  Discernment is our "filter"; it is the ability to sift through all the information that comes our way and find the truth. 

The Bible has something to say on this subject.  Consider these examples:

"Make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of  God.  For the Lord gives wisdom."  (Proverbs 2:2-6a NASB)

"Teach me good discernment and knowledge, for I believe in Your commandments."  (Psalms 119:66 NASB)

If we are to stay afloat in this ocean of information that surrounds us, we must learn to discern truth from error.  We must think carefully about what we see and hear, and not be swayed by the voices of media and celebrity that would distract us.

If we are to discern truth from error, we must have the wisdom that only God can give. 

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind."  (James 1:5-6 NASB)

We are bombarded with information daily, particularly in this election season.  But whether the information is from politicians or from the media or from celebrities or from our friends, we need our senses fine-tuned to discern truth from error.  That kind of fine-tuning can only come from the Author of all truth.  We need His wisdom to navigate this ocean of information.  We need His wisdom to discern what is right and what is wrong.  We need His wisdom to know what to believe and what to ignore.

God has promised to give us that kind of wisdom when we ask Him.  Then, and only then, are we able to safely navigate the ocean of information that surrounds us.

"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ."  (Philippians 1:9-10 NASB, emphasis mine)