noise

In 1968 in order to get ONE HOUR of undisturbed natual silence, no aeroplanes, no cars, no birds, it would take about 15 hours of recoding time..
TODAY in order to get that same ONE HOUR it takes 2000 hours of recording time...

why is silence so hard to deal with?

183 million people are regularly exposed to noise levels labelled as exsessive by the Environmental Protecction Agency.

Do you have a cell phone?

Voice-mail?

A cell phone with voice-mail and e-mail and facebook and everything else that comes with it?

Do you have a TV?

More than one TV?

Do you listen to the radio ALL day? Music all day?

On at work, at school, at home, in the car?
Is there such a thing as visual noise?

Do you feel like God is distant?

Do you wish God's voice would be LOUDER in your life?
Is there a connection between the the amount of noise in our lives and the inability to HEAR Gods voice?

SUV's now come with seperate CD and DVD systems for the back seats.

You can buy wired clothing now. Coats and jackets equipped with cell phone and MP3 players.

Try this...

Make yourself comfortable in your chair and begin breathing slowly as you read on.
"Then Moses and the priests, who are Levites, said to all Israel, "Be silent, O Israel, and listen!" Deuteronomy 27:9 "Search your hearts and be silent" Psalm 4:4 "But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him." Habakkuk 2:20 "Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest" Matthew 11:28

If i am not still and if I don't listen, how will Jesus give me rest?
Have you spent the same amount of time worrying and talking about your difficult, confusing situations, as you have spent in silence, listening to what God might have to say?

Why is talking so much easier then listening?

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Luke 5:16
These were regular disciplines Jesus had.
Silence. Solitude.

When was the last time you were in a solitary place?

What is it about silence that is so difficult?

Why is it so much easier to surround myself with noise, to keep moving than to stop, be silent and listen?

Does my schedule, my time, my life look like that of a person who wants to hear God's voice?

Maybe the healing and guidance we desperately we need isn't going to come from one more meeting or therapy session. Maybe it won't come from another sermon or self-help book.
But from simply listening for the voice of God.

Do you really believe in God's voice over the peoples around you?

Is it possible that you have been searching for God in the winds, the earthquakes and the fires, and He is waiting to speak to you in silence?


taken from nooma 1-5 noise.