After spending three glorious days in the high mountains of New Mexico, with the calls of the birds, the gurgles and roars of water cascading over the rocks in a cold mountain stream, and the wind as it plays across the tops of the grandiose pine trees, it has been difficult to adjust to the assault of sounds upon my ears in our return.
The sounds of our modern life have been an incursion, and invasion, they have been offensive, brash, harsh and an outright onslaught upon my ears.
The first invasion was traffic, the sound of the vehicles as they sit awaiting a traffic light, the horns honking, the whooshing of great trucks as our car passed them on the freeway. Poor Hektor (the dog) was most affected by these invasions of noise. I am sure his poor ears were assaulted by the screeching of modern day America as we barreled down the freeway towards home. No wonder the poor guy did his very best to hide on the floorboards of the car.
The worst for me was the television. How it blared. How ugly it’s words. There were angry people making angry political rants, photos of violence and death assaulting my eye, tiny perfect little boys floating face down in the water, commercials blaring and demanding that I purchase and that in purchasing my problems would all be solved. And then there were the advertisements for drugs proclaiming that my churning stomach or my constant need for the potty would all be corrected, but with this correction would come constant diarrhea, headaches, joint pain, suicidal thoughts and outright death. Advertisements informing me of wonderful sleep medications that would insure a restful sleep….but I might be running up and down the street in my underwear assaulting my neighbors while I am deep at rest.
That first night back I attempted to fall asleep while my beloved took in an episode of the Simpsons. I struggled to fall asleep. To go from the sounds of a bubbling stream to the sound of Homer and Bart and their nonsense was a full on assault of the senses to me.
I awoke the next day irritated and grumpy. What a terrible loud obnoxious world I have to live in. It is loud. Young men with their music so loud their vehicles are vibrating as if the vehicle itself is the speaker to amplify this horrid boom to the world, whether those in the world wish to hear it or not. Even my phone is a nuisance, with its constant pings and rings and bells and whistles. I have a message, I have a Like or Comment on Facebook, someone has tweeted this or tweeted that.
It is absolutely amazing how loud our world is, and most of the sounds we take in on a constant basis are not soothing, they are not beautiful, they do not inspire nor comfort. They are a constant assault upon our ears.
I have been camping many times, I have sat many hours in beautiful quiet places, but for some reason on this past camping trip I actually noticed the quiet, noticed it and breathed it in. Breathed it in deep and reveled in it. And in so doing I opened my brain up to the contrast between the peace and quiet of nature and the constant noise of our normal daily life.
We have been back five days now, and I have struggled to balance things. How does one have quiet time with God when you are surrounded by noise, assaulted by the constant moving pieces of the world around you, how do you sit at His feet when you are waiting in the VA emergency waiting room and you cannot help but overhear the conversations going on around you, many of them sad and tragic, how do you be still and know that He is God when the sirens are going off outside and the television is blaring out an assault upon your ears? More importantly, how do you hear Him speak amidst all the noise?
I was reading several articles on the subject of quiet times with God and how to do this in the middle of the chaos of life. One had an excellent point. “The greatest “noise” that hinders us from hearing Him comes from our own minds”. For me, that was a very sobering point. I prefer to blame all the noise, blame all the hectic things going on around me, but upon reflection I must confess that the statement is true. I and my mind are what most often get between my soul and God communing.
For three days I dwelt in the beauty of nature, in the clear clean mountain air. I walked through beautiful green fields full of wildflowers, I sat and I slept beside a clear mountain stream that sang a beautiful lulling song as it tumbled over the rocks. I lounged on the banks of pristine mountain lakes where the pine trees sang in harmony their song of the wind as it whistled through their branches. One could not ask for a more perfect setting to commune with God. There was nothing but His glory all around, there was nothing harsh, nothing ugly, nothing pressing and no reason to do anything at all but BE STILL and know that He is God………and yet there were many times, stretches of time, that I did not think of Him at all.
So I sit here this morning, amidst an assault of sound, air conditioners blaring, people talking, traffic moving, dogs barking and confess that the problem is me. He is constant. He is available. He always shows up when I just still my heart, still my soul, and listen for that still small voice.
In order to hear Him, I need to develop the habit of acknowledging that every single place I go, He is right there with me. In truth ignoring Him would be like you and I going shopping for the day and yet during the entire day I ignore you, never speak, never ask you your opinion, never even acknowledge that you are right there with me. That is what we do when we forget that as believers God is always with us, He is our constant companion.
Meditate on God, remember who He is, what He has done already, what He has promised to do. Meditate on His word, read it, study it, ponder it.
“What we focus on is what we make room for.”
I plan on seeking the quiet moments and reveling in them when they are found, but we must be honest and confess that often in our busy chaotic world it is difficult to find real quiet. We have the noise of the world we live in and the clamor of the pain and suffering all around us and in us. It is difficult to live in quiet serenity. We must remember and live in the truth that God is with us amidst the noise. He does not require perfect quiet in order to hear us. He listens always.
As Jesus slept in the boat, the wind was howling, the waves were crashing, and the disciples were being tossed to and fro inside the boat. There was probably a lot of yelling going on, their hearts were filled with fear, the thunder was booming, the lighting was cracking across the dark sky. There was a lot of external and internal noise going on…….yet God was right there with them, right there in the boat, all they had to do was ask Him.
“When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
Be still, amidst the clamor all around, amidst the clamor inside you, be still and remember, He is with you always, even to the very end of the age.
It is well, with my soul.
http://www.godvine.com/Jesus-Is-With-You-in-Every-Moment-a-Touching-Video-2921.html