Noise Reduction

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I'm not sure exactly when it started, this quest for a quiet life. I don't remember one single moment when I looked around and thought, This chaos is too much. In fact, by many standards, my life has been quiet, safe, and maybe even boring. I'm an introvert married to an introvert; we are not loud people by nature unless there's a football game on, in which case all bets are off. As I've poured over 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, I've come to realize that a quiet life isn't as much about volume as it is about reducing noise.

We live in a world full of noise, clamoring for our attention.  

                              Email.

                              Blogs.

                             Facebook.

                             Twitter.

                             Smart phones.

                             24-hour news networks.

                             Hundreds of television channels.

We have unlimited access to information, unfettered interaction with people near and far. But at what price? We've become desensitized to the constant droning around us. We are uncomfortable with face-to-face contact. We have exchanged flesh and blood for pixels and gigabytes.

Noise reigns in our lives.

Merriam-Webster defines noise
any sound that is undesired or interferes with one's hearing of something; irrelevant or meaningless data or output occurring along with desired information.(emphasis mine)
Keeping this in mind, these are the questions I want to ask myself - think on long and hard - as I seek the quiet life:

Does this interfere with hearing God? I must guard my time in His Word before spending time in the words of others, no matter the source.

Does this interfere with hearing my family? I must also guard my time with my family. I cannot forsake my responsibilities to love and minister to them.

Is this relevant in God's Kingdom? I must gauge the importance of the information I'm consuming in light of eternity.

 Is this encouraging and helpful in my walk with the Lord?  I must accurately assess its influence upon my willingness to live for God's agenda rather than my own.

A quiet life requires that I return to these questions over and over. My recent neglect to do so (and the ensuing fallout) prompted a fresh start with this blog, a place to begin again and narrow my focus to living in light of the Gospel.


Comments

Kim Shay said…
Good questions, all. Lots of information out there, but a lot of it is just for the sake of feeding our morbid curiosities.
May 1, 2013 at 7:25 AM
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