Noise

As I sit down to write this, my neighbor is having a new roof put on his house. Of course, with that comes a constant hammering, mixed with air compressor noise and intermittent banging as things hit the ground. Noise, noise and more noise. Thankfully, the job will only take a few days and it'll all stop.

Not so, when it comes to life. The noises never stop. The voices are everywhere and they never truly shut-up. Ok, before you get worried, I'm not talking about hearing the kinds of voices that require a lengthy stay in a psychiatric ward. But, there are millions of voices out there screaming at us and if we are not careful, we'll follow all the wrong ones. You've heard them millions of times. "Buy this car," "You need these clothes," "Just do it," "You deserve it, "If it was me, I'll tell you what I'd do." Or, how about, "You were born that way," "It's only a little lie," "Everybody's doing it," "Whatever feels good, do it." Then there's voices that say things like, "You aren't good enough," "You don't measure up," "You'll never amount to anything." Then there's ones like this, "I need you to do this," "Can you buy me that," "Can you get me that," "Can you fix this,""I need your help."

Several years ago, I worked at a commercial radio station. One of my responsibilities was to produce radio commercials which sometimes required me to write the copy. It was actually one of my favorite things I got to do in radio. In writing commercials, you can simply give lots of info and facts and be done in just a couple of minutes. But the great commercials take some time to write the verbiage. They are the ones that hook you. The ones that leave you saying to yourself, "I want that! I need that! I can't live without it! And, therein is the goal of commercials. Then again, therein is the goal of all those voices. They want to control and dictate how we do life. They want us to listen to them, believe them, and act accordingly. Trouble is, we often fall for it hook, line, and sinker.

Somewhere in the middle of all that noise, is the voice of our Heavenly Father. Trust me He's continually speaking to us. His voice is the one that we need to hear most of all. Unfortunately, the noise can be so loud that we struggle hearing His voice in the midst of it all. It is vital for us though to learn how to drown out all that noise and find that still small voice of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes in order to do that, we need to take a step back and find a quiet place where all those other voices are minimized and His becomes predominate. I think the more we do that, it becomes increasingly easier to distinguish His voice in the middle of all that other chatter. Believe it or not, there were times Jesus had to step away and get alone with just him and his father in heaven.

Of course, those quiet places can be hard to find. Especially, when you have kids running around the house, the phone constantly ringing, and people constantly pulling on you for attention. Although its difficult, it is possible and extremely necessary to each and every one of us. My wife gets up early in order to spend a few moments alone. I find that the evening works better for me. Perhaps, for you it might be a few minutes during your lunch break, or while the kids are at school, or on the drive to work. Whenever it is, turn off as many inputs as you possibly can. Turn off the TV, the radio, and the computer. And yes, its ok not to answer the phone for a few minutes. You'll be surprised how easily you'll be able to hear His voice, when you eliminate some of the noise, and really listen for His voice.