Slowing Down to Listen

We live in a world of constant noise and activity. There's always something we can do or listen to that fills the time and the silence. We've actually become really bad at being quiet or being still.

But, I wonder what we're missing because of it? I wonder what the real cost is?

Obviously, we can see and experience the physical cost. The most common thing we talk about about is how busy we are. Often followed by how tired we are.

There's a relational and emotional cost. Relationships with people take time we say we don't have. And when we're constantly on the go, our emotions can easily overwhelm us.

But, I wonder if we really stop and think about the spiritual cost of all this busy-ness and noise? Or, have we become so used to it we no longer realize there's a spiritual cost?

Just as relationships with people take time and energy from us, so does our relationship with God. Just as we need to take time to sit quietly and listen to those we want to have relationship with, we need to do so with God.

But, in our busy-ness and the constant noise of our lives it can be easy to forget this. We try to substitute a quick devotional thought or listening to a preacher while we do something else for the time we actually need. But, in doing so, we miss so much. The spiritual cost of doing so is high.

It's a trap we can easily fall into. I know I do it more often than I want. And we have to intentional about slowing down enough to listen. We have to be intentional about turning off the noise do we can really hear what God is saying to us.

It's actually one of the reasons I look forward to the month of January at my church. As a church, we set aside 21 days for prayer and fasting. The specifics of what this time looks like may be different for all of us, but we get intentional together about slowing down and being quiet enough to hear God's still small voice speaking to us. Taking time to re-calibrate our lives as we being a new year.

I guess the challenge I have for you as I finish this is to reflect on whether you need to slow down and turn off the noise to listen again?

Have you gotten so caught up in the busy-ness and noise of our world that you're paying a spiritual price you don't even realize?