Nothing But Noise

I challenge you before you read any further to take 3 minutes and write down every noise you hear and be very attentive to any noise that you may hear. It's ok. I'll wait...Welcome back. The first time I actually sat and did this exercise, I was surprised at just how much stuff I heard. Look at your list. How much stuff was just background noise? How much was noise that had to be noticed? It is amazing that we hear so much and process so much information with our brains. We process sound information even while we are sleeping. Thankfully, my wife has stopped processing my snoring. As you can tell from your list, our lives are noisy. We have sounds that we just ignore and other sounds that come into our ears that cannot be ignored. Many of us thrive on noise. The though of studying without music in the background makes me have a small panic attack. In 1 Kings Chapter 19 we read about Elijah and we read this about the voice of God. 

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

Many of us have made it a saying in our life that we want to hear the voice of God, but I want to ask you today, if the Lord is speaking, do you actually hear him? Or, is your life to full of noise to make it out? When was the last time you actually heard his voice speak to you? 

We read numerous passages of scripture that speak to this. David had to find his secret place and even Jesus himself had to withdraw so he could get close to his father. Why do we feel like we can allow so much noise to interfere and never suffer the ill effects. The world competes with the spiritual every single day. It gets louder and louder. We as followers of Christ must set aside the noise and listen to him. 

How do we accomplish pushing past the noise? Here are a few practical steps to accomplish the task of spiritual hearing. 

1. Make quiet time with God a priority. Its easy to say but harder to do. Plan those moments where you will get alone with God. Not just a couple of seconds but make it a part of your schedule. Place it on your daily schedule and treat it as a can't miss appointment. 

2. Unplug from distractions. You've done it and so have I. You go to pray and all of a sudden you have a text from your wife and you look at your phone and lose focus. You feel the vibration of an in coming email and you read it. I challenge you to lay down your phone, tablet, watch, and other types of communication devices and focus on simply hearing him. It is so easy to justify why we cannot unplug, but justification in our flesh is tool the devil has used for generations. Take a pen and paper and journal or take an actual copy of the Bible, you know that thing that is made of leather and paper with gold leafing on the pages, and read it apart from the noise of efficiency. 

3. Create a culture in your home of the value of time with God. We may do devotions because it's what we should do, but do our children know that it is much more than obligation that compels us to know the savior more? Do they understand the holiness involved with coming into the presence of God? Are we modeling to them the importance of fellowship with God and walking with him? 

I was very surprised by the number of people recently I have spoken to who have never really felt the spirit of God speaking directly to them. They cited busy lives and crazy schedules as to why their relationship with God was superficial as best. God has a desire to know us and to continue to get to know us as we journey through our lives. 

God does not scream at us to garner attention. The number one mark of an abuser is their tone. They will yell to get their point across and God is no abuser. He is a God of compassion and mercy. Now should he choose, he can be angered, but his desire is to have fellowship and communion with us. He is no abuser. He speaks with that same still small voice and gentle whisper he always has. Will you quieten down the noise so you can hear him?