"THE CONSPIRACY OF NOISE"
We live in a day filled with noise.
Every pressure, demand, and list joins the raucous chorus of sound that fills our lives. It’s like an endless assault on any hopeful sense of peace and purpose in the world.
We can sometimes climb into bed at night, closing the chapter on another day, and wonder,
“Did my manic pace today accomplish anything of lasting value?”
Our lives are full and yet they feel barren. We have joined the ranks in the over-glorification of busy.
Still there is a quiet drum that beats somewhere in the distance. It is ordered, it is calm, it is sure. It is reminiscent of a truth we have always known - there is more than this. It resonates with the deepest core of our true selves.
How do we tune-in to that again?
I my personal pursuit of purpose I’ve decided that effectiveness is more valuable than efficiency, significance weighs more in eternity than prominence and stress is ungodly.
I have learned that the capacity of each person is remarkably greater than they individually fathom about themselves. I have learned that the anointing on each of us is potent beyond belief. I have learned that you and I are immeasurably dynamic and the culmination of Heaven’s potential within us is a force to be reckoned with.
I have also grown increasingly suspicious that there is a conspiracy against us, the children of God. There is a plight in favour of our distraction; it seeks to get us off mission by making us busy and drowning out the voice of our Maker.
I have learned, the hard way, what striving feels like, and I have become much quicker at arresting myself before venturing too far down its path. I have learned that striving is cunning and persuasive. She is often applauded, admired and praised. But she is also cruel and she is fruitless. She is not the voice I was created to listen to.
One thing I do thank striving for is that she pointed me towards Grace. I have learned what Grace feels like – ease, peace, confidence, empowerment, increase, space, life, life, life. I have learned what Grace feels like, sounds like, looks like, and tastes like.
I have also learned how to find Grace. I have learned that Grace is not absent in the assault of noise. In fact that is when Grace is all the more present and available.
Grace creates a synergistic expansion of life everywhere it is present.
Not to so long ago my world became cluttered. All the honourable things I was doing were suddenly imposing on each other and shouting all the more loudly for attention over one another. I had forgotten who I was in the commotion of it all. I had lost Jesus along the way. I was doing it all FOR Him, but I realised I was no longer WITH Him.
What followed was a swelling ocean of painful reckoning.
Who am I? Where are You? What am I doing?
I’m afraid that I can’t keep this up!
Who am I? Where are You?
I miss You.
I was standing in a storm, howling winds pulling me every which way, and all I wanted was to hear Him again. Jesus, just Jesus, the voice of Grace. And so began a long period of early mornings alone with my journal, my bible and my tears – pen in hand longing to hear that still small voice again.
That season taught me something I will treasure always:
JESUS WILL REVEAL HIMSELF TO ME IN THE STILL PLACES I CARVE OUT FOR HIM.
Do you remember when the Prophet Elijah was the personal conduit of God’s supernatural power against 450 prophets of Baal? Anyone would call that moment a reasonable success and somewhat spectacular. But immediately after this elated event Elijah goes running for the hills (literally) because one crazy woman threatens his life.
He was hiding in a cave when God came and asked him a question that haunts me every time I retreat, “What are you doing in here Elijah?” God beckoned Elijah out of the cave to the top of the mountain. As he stood there the winds started to blow, an earthquake rattled the ground, and fire blazed all about him. Through it all one recurring statement is recorded over and over:
“But the Lord was not in the wind… But the Lord was not in the earthquake… But the Lord was not in the fire.”
“Then after the fire a still small voice.” (1 Kings 19: 11-12)
The truth is we can’t escape the rush, the manic; and God will often draw us out into the very face of it. As children of God we are called to be the soothing balm this aggravated world desperately needs. It then comes down to our ability to stand in the midst of the noise and tune-in to Heaven’s frequency.
What did Elijah hear in that still small voice?
The next mission.
IT'S NOT ABOUT BEING INACTIVE, IT'S ABOUT BEING STILL; STILL IN SPIRIT.
Unflappable, focused, calm, and tuned-in to the voice of Grace.
He really is so good to us. He believes in us more than we do ourselves. Jesus sings Grace over us daily if we carve out the space to hear it.
Listen to His melody:
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)
That rhythm you can hear in the distance, it's the symphony of Grace.
It tells of a capacity greater than you dare to believe, matched only by an ease that surpasses understanding. Tune in.
[Inspired by Gordon MacDonald, Ordering Your Private World]
