Noise

Psalm 46:4-11

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns. The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

A thought

The nations rage about doing what they do, but God is on the throne. He is to be exalted, and the only way we can do this and see it is to not be in their frenzy.

Silence

"It is so quiet in here." A phrase that we hear when all the distractions of TV, music, Internet, Mobile devices and activities are nowhere to be found. Why is it that many of us find this to be erie or haunting? Why do our teenagers have to have "earbuds" in their ears at all times? Why do we automatically put music on when there is silence.

"Silence is deafening" is a phrase that echoes this sentiment, but why?

Noise

Noise is peaceful to many because it prevents the mind from interacting with our soul. It keeps our mind in a state of fragmentation. It is fragmented on the latest world news, the latest post from a friend, the latest picture, etc. The mind becomes divided and focused between what we are doing, what we have to do and what we should be doing.

Noise is the great "meditation" killer. It keeps out self-reflection, moral processing, and communion with God and others. It helps us avoid communion with God, others and ourselves.

The Past

I remember in my youth, pre-conversion, always having to have music on because whenever the music stopped my mind connected with my soul and condemnation came for my actions. I remember trying to shut it out. Music was the preferred method, because there was no iDevices or true mobility back then. There was no Facebook, Twitter, Google, or any other road to e information superhighway.

Today

Ironically, our digital age is an incredible tool to help us with our purpose, to subdue the earth for God's glory, and multiply God's images for this same purpose. So much information, so much opportunity for communication, evangelism, and glorification of God. But the problem is that we have got into our cars on the superhighway and have forgotten our maps, we have our GPS, but we are so busy looking at our Facebook status and the latest Tweet that we have driven past our turn. But we don't even care, we have become bits on the highway and become a part of e information itself.

The funny thing is if any of you know me, you know that I actually am a mobile developer. I live in the highway 8 or more hours a day. Yet, I am coming to realize that if we are not careful we can become a "1" or "0" in a computer program. We feed the profit margins of Internet companies.

Purpose

We quickly forget that we are truly people created in the image of God. Our one true purpose is to spread God's fame and show His glory. Our purpose cannot be fulfilled without communion with God. It cannot be known, experienced or executed upon without hearing what he has to say and speaking to Him.

Quiet

Thus, we need to "Be still and know that He is God." We need to unplug, to listen to Him talk to us through His Word and His Spirit. We need to connect with Him in prayer in the silence. We need to forget about all the noise and focus on our power source, our Maker.

Conclusion

I could probably write a book on technology, guilt and purpose, but I just don't have the time. Suffice it to say, put your device down, turn off the music, go somewhere quiet, and thank God for the fact that He loves you. Then, listen to Him speak into your life about all of the dross that He wants to purge from you in order that you can come to enjoy Him, His world, and His images.