DAY 30 - LOUD NOISES
ZACH ATWOOD, YA EVENTS & OPERATIONS TEAM LEAD
“The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.” Psalm 29:4
Maybe it’s me, but when it comes to sound, I’m very particular. If I’m watch tv or listening to music, the volume must be at an interval of 5 (e.g. 5, 10, 15, 20, etc.) If it’s not, I will not be able to enjoy the moment and I will fixate on that the whole time. Not only that, but I also hate silence. I have to have background music on while working, quiet restaurants are my mortal enemy, and heck, I put on Netflix in the background while I’m scrolling the IG!
I know I’m weird with all my auditory issues, but sound and volume are important. Too quiet and we might miss vital information, too loud and we shut down mentally, too many sources playing at once and we can’t sort out what’s needed.
I believe we’ve allowed voices around us to match the volume of God’s voice in our life. It’s not that we’ve shut God out or turned Him down in our hearts, but we’ve allowed other voices to speak into our lives at the same volume He’s speaking to us at. It could be your friends, your family, your boss, it could be strangers, it could be the news; no matter their relation to you, you’ve allowed their truth to take afoot in your heart and become a loud voice in your life.
Here’s how I visualize this concept: you’re driving in your car listening to some tunes at volume level 15, you get to a red light so you open up Instagram and scroll while you wait to go (we all do it, don’t lie…) You click on something and all of a sudden, the sound of your music and the IG story are blaring through the speakers. Then, the light turns green. People start honking for you to go. On top of all of that, your phone rings. So now, your music is playing, Doug The Pug’s IG story is blaring, people are honking, and you’re getting a call from your boss… Reading that just gives me stress!
We’ve allowed all the voices in our life to hold the same level of authority over us, so when we try and listen to the one that matter’s most, our Heavenly Father’s, we can’t sort it out from the others. We need to get back to a place where His voice and His volume rises above all others.
Trust me, we need to have people into our lives to speak wisdom over us; but are they directing your steps, or is God? We need to have leaders that push us forward; but are they giving you a call, or is God? We need news and information to make the correct choices and decisions; but are they dictating your emotions, or is God?
Let’s begin working on lowering the volume around us so that our Creator can speak to us and direct our steps. As we begin turning down the other voices in our life, His will become that much more powerful to us.
Psalm 29:3-9
The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon leap like a calf,
Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord strikes
with flashes of lightning.
The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;
the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord twists the oaks
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”