Noisy New Jersey Nights!

For those of you who live in New Jersey (especially the suburbs), have you ever noticed how noisy our nights can be during the summer months?  No, I’m not referring to the volume of cars and trucks on our roads or the blasting of boom boxes and stereos or the parties being held next door.  I’m referring to the crickets and cicadas that chirp and squeak and fill the night air with a cacophony of sound, to the point that it becomes really, really noisy.  They can make such a racquet that one can’t sleep with the windows open—at least such has been the case for me. 

What’s really curious to me is that, when my family and I are up to the Adirondack Mountains, although we are in the midst of woods, the nights are quiet as can be. That’s not because of a lack of cars or radios or people. It’s because there seem to be no crickets and cicadas.  Why that is, I am not quiet sure. I just know that, whereas the mountains are quiet and still, it is really noisy here in New Jersey!  (And, God forbid one of those crickets should get into your house; you will never fall asleep!)     

A beautiful and noisy NJ night!

Our world can be a noisy a place. There is a constant cacophony of sound that vies for our ears and seeks to influence our minds. You know what I mean. Every day we are bombarded by the noise of the media, politics, academia, the entertainment industry, and even a plethora of pulpits all screaming into our ears.  And, the noise continues to grow across airways, DSL lines, through podcasts, twitter accounts, Facebook, and a whole host of growing avenues that are really good at being really noisy. There’s just so much noise!  Sometimes we can feel like Job of the Old Testament who cried out, “I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest but only turmoil.”  (Job 3:26 – NIV)

In the midst of all the noise of our world, is it possible to yet hear the voice of God?  Is there any space within our lives into which God can speak?  I tend to think, that will be up to us.  Jesus challenges the people multiple times saying, “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” The Psalmist wrote, “Be still and know that I am God.”  (Psalm 46:10 – NIV) The prophet Isaiah wrote, “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength….”  (Isaiah 30:15 – NIV) God’s Word calls us to make space in our lives, quiet spaces, into which God might speak to us—as we read his Word, as we seek him in prayer, as we worship him, as we walk with him “in quietness and trust.” 

Let’s not allow the noise of our world to overpower the voice of God in our lives.

Have a great day!

Pastor Tim Harris