Can You Hear Me Now?

 Noises. They're everywhere! We hear it in music, television news, videos, traffic, conversations, nature. All of these noises share a common factor: sound. Some sounds are louder and some are softer. No matter the volume, the sound grabs our attention. When hearing the sound, we turn in the direction of it. Different sounds play a different role. Some sounds alert us to danger while others are calming. They can have short-term or long-term effects. Depending on the environment, we can't always control the sounds we hear (like birds chirping outside), but we can choose how long we listen to it and our attitude towards it. Sometimes we can hear too much noise and it blocks out what's really important. Silence is okay - I'm learning  that more and more! In general in society, silence is rarely valued, especially in conversations. In college, I took a communication class and we talked about how many people don't like to pause in conversation and that it is seen as awkward. Many times in conversation when there is a pause, we feel the need to fill it with words (I'm guilty!). I'm learning though that it's okay to have pauses. It's good for the individuals involved to stop and take in what's being said. I'm working on doing that in my conversations more. If there's no pause and there's constant talk, we can't appreciate what's being said as much and may miss something important. In conversations, we really need to take time to listen to others. People need to be heard and we can learn a lot from listening and focusing on what's being said (or not!). Being quick to rush past what was said or not even hearing anything because we had too much background noise could cause unnecessary situations that could be avoided. Let's do our part and listen to others more. And what about when it comes to listening to God? He's speaking, but do we have too much noise in the background to hear? Are we more concerned with what social media is saying than what God is saying? Are we rushing through the Word when we do read it and missing what's important? Are we more caught up with the news and gossip than to stop and hear God's truth? There's nothing wrong with social media and news when it's uplifting, inspiring and giving wisdom. Even in our pandemic, I have seen some inspiring stories. But at the end of the day, God holds us up! His Word is what we need to listen to, take in, appreciate, and live out. Pause when reading the Word and ask God how to apply and use it. Proverbs 19: 20 says, " Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future." We have to shut down the voices that tell us we don't have to live God's way. We have to shut off the noise of social media and television when spending time with God. We don't need anything in our life to be louder than God's Word. So..yes..silence is okay! It's in the silence we gain appreciation. It's in the silence we gain insight. It's in the silence we gain instruction. Certain noises will cause us to miss what we need to focus on in the present moment. Be careful of the noises in your life because people want to know and God wants to know one question: Can you hear me now?