Do me a favor. Stop for just a minute. Sit still, and listen. Just listen. Think about what you hear. It's okay. I will wait.
So, what did you hear? I hear the hum of the hairdryer as my daughter dries her hair. I also hear the sounds of cars going by, and my two favorite men having a conversation downstairs.
For several months now, God has been working on my heart about picking my new word for 2018. It started very subtly at first. But the push toward this one word has become stronger and stronger in the past few weeks and days. I thought about this word earlier in the year as I read books on the words we say and how we say them. Thoughts of the same word surfaced more recently as I read about humility and how to have more of it in my life. I thought about this word a lot and most recently as I pressed through the "busy" of the holiday season.
I asked my Facebook friends to humor me in a post yesterday. I asked them to do as I asked you at the beginning of this blog. To sit still for a few seconds and to share with me what they could hear. I had about 30 different people respond. Out of those who did respond, several mentioned hearing music, or the television, or the voices of loved ones. Others mentioned things like ice makers, refrigerators, washing machines, and the sound of air from heaters. Some mentioned husbands working or snoring. Others heard the sound of loved ones helping someone. Several mentioned the sounds that their pets were making. But just as I had suspected. No one mentioned the word that has been pressed by God on my heart. Well, one friend used my word to describe a sound that she heard, but no one only used my word.
We live in a noisy world. There is activity and sound going on all around us constantly. Did you know that noise is scientifically proven to raise blood pressure and stress levels? My niece bought a game called Hearing Things. It came with earphones for one player to wear while the other player read a phrase from a card. The player with the earphones was supposed to try to figure out what the other player was reading from the card. The earphones played a loud "crowd" type noise to keep the wearer from hearing what the other player was saying, and to cause them to depend only on lip reading skills to win the game. Many of us had trouble getting past the distraction of the noise coming through the earphones in order to be able to focus on what was important - figuring out what the other player was saying - in order to win the game.
I think that Satan often uses noise to distract us from what is important. I have read several articles on the benefits of just being quiet. Many mention the health benefits. One surprising benefit is that being quiet actually grows new brain cells - who knew!?! And who of us would not benefit from new brain cells? Quiet also helps with creativity. Brain cells and creativity are a couple of things I feel I have been running short on for a few years now.
So, if you haven't figured it out by now. My word for 2018, is quiet. I plan to try to intentionally schedule some into every day. I plan to quiet the noise around me. I plan to "Be still" and "know" that He is God (Psalm 46:10). I plan to tune out the world's noise, and to listen for what is important - His still small voice (1 Kings 19:12).
I also plan to work on quieting the noise within. I'm really good at belittling myself. I'm really good at beating myself up. I'm really good at blaming myself. I want to hear, and believe what God wants me to hear and believe. I want to hear who He says that I am and soak it all in, instead of listening to the lies of Satan. I want to hear His forgiveness and mercy instead of my self condemnation. I want my identity to be in Him alone. But to do this, I must quiet the noise within.
I also want to work more on being quiet myself. I do not have to say everything that is on my heart or mind. I have tried to practice this lately. I have amusingly found that others have plenty to say. So when I am quiet, there is usually someone to fill in the void. I want my words to have an impact. I want to say things that matter. I am working on quality, not quantity, when it comes to sharing my words and what is on my heart.
So, in my very informal Facebook survey, no one said that they just heard quiet. But guess what I hear now? Quiet. Since I started writing, everyone else has left the house with things to do. I am home alone getting over the flu. And I hear quiet. And since that is the word that God has impressed on me to be the focus of 2018, and has provided me with the opportunity to start now, I am going to take it. My prayer is that you too, are intentional about adding more quiet to your life this year.
Happy New Year! I pray that you grow closer to God this year than ever before!
