Distracted Living

There are so. Many. Distractions. In life. Have you noticed our inability to just stay quiet? We’re uncomfortable in silence. Someone needs to say something, turn on the TV or whip out their cell phone. Know anyone like this? Or maybe you’re that person?

Twenty One Pilots has a haunting song called Car Radio where the singer laments that he’s left alone with his deep thoughts because someone stole his car radio and he can’t drown out the thoughts with music any more.

I’m all for Christians in media – TV, movies and music. And I totally believe in supporting those with money, airtime and support. But I’ve also come to realize that we need a lot more silence in our every day. Why? Because I’m convinced that those are the times when we can hear God’s voice.

How many of us want to hear God’s voice? We want Him to part the heavens, for angels to ascend and descend, for trumpets to sound and God’s voice to unmistakably come down to us like that scene with Charlton Heston receiving the Ten Commandments. I know that’s what I always wanted. Because I didn’t think I could hear Gods voice without something like that.

And when Jesus states that His sheep hear His voice (John 10:27) fear and uncertainty can plague your mind. Your whole walk with God comes into question.

We want God to break into our world with revelation. And sometimes He does. But maybe He’s just waiting for us to get quiet.

There’s an interesting story in 1 Kings 19:11-13, where a hiding prophet was waiting to hear from God on his next move:

11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire [a]a still small voice.

13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?

Isn’t that crazy? He wasn’t in the wind, the earthquake or the fire, but the quiet whisper.

Can it be that our mind is so crowded with voices that we can’t hear His? Yes, God can use the praise music. Yes, God uses pastors and others to speak into our lives. But maybe hearing from God for ourselves would be much easier if we got more comfortable with silence.

I think I’ll speak later on cultivating silence because it’s more than just trying not to think about anything. You bet your Blessed Assurance that Satan will be trying to insert thoughts into those moments. And I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I got the silence thing all mapped out. As a woman I always got like a dozen things swirling in my mind at one time. But I’ll leave it at this for now: Be aware of the noise in your life – even if it’s good. Be conscious of your need to fill voids with entertainment or sound of some sort. Resist the urge to fill the silence with sound or activity. Make an effort to struggle with the silence. It may be that you’ll finally hear that still small voice.