UNPLUG THE AMBIENT NOISE


Read: 1 Kings 19:9-13 
"“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10 ESV 
Sometimes, when the pace of life overwhelms me, I just step outside, close my eyes and open my ears. To gain a measure of calm in a frenetic world, it is a comfort just to let the soft sounds carried on the breeze wash over me like a breaking wave. 
In the pre-dawn hours, I listen to the chirping of the crickets and the birds singing their sweet songs as if to welcome the new day. In the afternoon and evening, as the waning sunlight sweeps over me, I listen to the Kansas wind sweeping through the grass, rustling the trees, and flapping the flags high on the poles. At any time of day, in Kansas, too, it is not unusual to hear livestock calls in the distance, whinnies, moos, and bleating, even in more populated areas. 
In these indescribably serene moments, I am almost saddened when the splattered paint of more frantic modern noises make their way in to the audio masterpiece – the buzz of cell phones, the clicking of keyboards, the roaring of cars speeding by down the streets. 
It is in those times I often try to take my mind back to the prairie of 150 years ago – a time before the ambient noises of "progress" started cluttering the breeze. I cannot help but wonder what it would sound like to the dissonance of technology was not a part of the symphony of sound. 
When, in my mind's eye, I do manage to turn the modern world off, it is a treasure beyond words to listen to the Concerto of the Creator. Every note is perfectly in tune, every instrument his hand has crafted playing it's part in the Opus magnificently. Each creature sings its own song as the wind carries the tune through the foliage. And in the storm, the thunder and lightning, drive home to symphony with a majestic percussion as the rain pelts the ground. 
There is no greater sound to me than this symphony, because it is when the ambient noise is turned to zero that I can most clearly hear His voice whispering peace into my heart. It the most profound silences is His love most clearly heard. 
Maybe you are wondering today why you struggle to hear His voice through the chaos.  
If you are today, perhaps you just need to turn down the ambient racket of the modern world, and turn up the master work composed and conducted by the Master's hands. 
I promise you, when you do, you will never have heard a more beautiful sound. 
Prayer: Lord, as I struggle to hear you in the midst of the chaos, help to turn down the noise of the world around me, and just open the beautiful, silent moments to your voice. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FINDING LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS - RACE REFLECTIONS

It is amazing sometimes how God's plan can so vastly differ from my own. In the past couple of days, I have begun to reflect on my experiences at the Run for the Rocks Half Marathon, and the aftermath thereof. A week ago, I was approaching it with no real concrete goal in mind. I planned to take it easy, and run little more than a relaxed (for me), leisurely pace - a chance to recover after a difficult, but fulfilling, summer of racing. But somewhere about three days before the race, I started to feel like God's plans for this race were far different than my own. On His leading, I decided to run the race to support and represent Prodigal Ministries of Kansas, a small men's transitional shelter I have been involved with on several levels for nearly a decade. It felt like a calling to be a voice of light for a ministry that, on so many levels, changed my life and my heart many years ago when I was in a dark, dark place. With this renewed focus put on the race I was r
Read more

MAKE YOUR DAYS COUNT

Nine years  ago  last Monday, I ran my first road race. Eight months  ago  today, I finished my third marathon. But four months ago, the real race began.   I have spent the last four months literally, and figuratively, having my heart tested over and over again.    Physically, the aim has been to diagnose exercise-exacerbated chest soreness through an extensive battery appointments and tests culminating in a heart  cath  Tuesday which leaves me sidelined, even from lifting my daughter, for the next two weeks.   So far, the results have been positive, in a sense. There are some issues my heart that go along with getting closer to 40 – some leaky valves and now, it appears, some slight narrowing of the arteries. So, as long as it’s monitored, I am not, God willing, going anywhere anytime soon.   Hmm...God willing.   These words carry a lot more weight and a lot less cliché now. I have spent a lot of time the last four months wrestling with my own mortality, at t
Read more

FINDING REFRESHMENT IN A BITTER WORLD

“ Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your  words  will be an  encourage ment to those who hear them.” Ephesians 4:29, NLT Most of my mornings start early – like, no daylight, crickets-still-chirping early – around, or often before, 5 a.m. If I’m still in bed at six, even on the weekends, you might want to check my pulse. The pre-dawn hours before the day turns the wind-up crank on my energetic two year old daughter Makenzie is my time of refreshment and renewal. In those times, there are generally three constants – a pair of running shoes, multiple cups of coffee, and a camo-covered Bible. By way of confession, sometimes there are too many cups of coffee and not enough time with an open Bible. With a hyper personality made significantly moreso by seemingly endless refills of java, finding the balance is not always easy. Countless stresses that overload and overwhelm the already hectic pace of life. The morning news is filled with stories of grief, disaster
Read more