Noise (Tuning in to the Spirit)
There was an….incident…this past week. (Does that word make you nervous? Well, it should!) My 6 ½ year old (and that ½ is VERY important to her) is old enough that when we go for a walk, I’ll let her go ahead of me. (As I told you in my last post, she likes to be the leader). She enjoys running. Sometimes there gets to be some distance between us, but she knows her boundaries. Generally, she stops when I ask her to.
We were out for a walk this past week. My daughter put a bit of distance between her and me. I held my son’s hand because he is too young to run ahead. Then, a few things happened simultaneously which could have been disastrous (possibly even deadly if you want to go for the dramatic). My daughter passed a driveway, and a car began backing out after she passed. A few seconds later, she turned around to come back to me, passing the driveway as the car was rolling backward. A UPS truck rumbled passed just as I was screaming at the top of my lungs for her to stop because I was afraid that the person backing the car couldn’t see her. Uncharacteristically, she didn’t stop, but kept coming. The car continued backing out, and I continued hollering as loud as I could. Helpless, I realized I was unable to get her to stop. Terror set in quickly. I was screaming, and scared stiff that my child would be hurt. All of this happened in probably less than a minute, but it felt like a lifetime. She ran past the driveway, and luckily the car didn’t hit her. She ran to my side, grabbing for my hand. The UPS truck and the car went on their merry way, and we were safe. The terror passed, but I asked very sternly why she hadn’t stopped when I was yelling at her to stop. She told me she couldn’t hear my voice over the noise of the truck.
After this incident was over (and I could breathe again) I started pondering…how often do I allow the “noise” in the world to over power the whisperings of the spirit? I like to run through life. There are so many things to do, and so much stuff to buy. Running, running, running, noise, noise, noise. There have been times when I run blindly, not really seeing where I’m going. During those times I feel like I want guidance from the Lord, yet I think He isn’t talking to me. Then, as the noise clears and I focus on what’s important, I can hear Him and his guidance again. The scriptures state that the Holy Spirit whispers in a “still, small voice” (1 Kings 19:11-12). So the next time I feel like I can’t hear the Spirit, hopefully I’ll remember to slow down, listen closely, and know He is always there.
