Day 2 Devotional: Drown out the Noise

Chasing Hope: The pursuit of a Hope that lasts

Day 2: Drown out the Noise

In C.S. Lewis’s “The Screw Tape Letters”, there is a section in which the devil talks about how to keep people from hearing the voice of God by drowning it out. In summary, the devil says to make the world’s noise so loud and buzzing that it becomes impossible for people to hear the voice of God. The devil can’t stop God from speaking to us, he can only distract us and drown out His voice with other noise. 

Drowning out the noise is something I have learned to be essential in walking out of hopelessness and into hope’s arms.  This is difficult when the suffering and circumstances we are living in become so loud. For me and my cancer diagnosis, it was the way everyone looked at me, like a dead man walking, and the way the world heard the word ‘cancer’ almost as if it instantly diagnosed me as dead. It even comes in the form of those close to you that may doubt the path of treatment you may take. They question it, making you wonder if you are hearing properly from God about your choice. And lastly, anytime something new hurts, or doesn’t feel right, your mind races to the thought of “has the cancer spread to the rest of my body.”  All of these thoughts and discussions are noise: noise that must be recognized for the distraction they are. Because then we can begin to focus not on the noise but to search relentlessly for the quiet, small, still voice that beckons us, speaks to us, guides us, and leads us: that is the voice of God.  We will never know what steps to take if we are not aware of WHO’s voice we are to listen to, and if we are not intentional in creating space to hear Him speak. 

Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say. - Isaiah 28:23

 In this part of scripture, the Lord is reminding the nation that deliverance is coming but it will require some effort on their part, and the biggest command is to uphold His word and LISTEN for Him. This verse lays it out perfectly: we need to listen for Him and hear His voice, paying attention to what He is saying to us, then doing what He says. 

As a racecar diver, I’ll use this analogy: you get in the car, strapped to the seat near a loud roaring engine, all around you is a loud crowd and other engines running. You can’t hear anything and you pull out onto a Colosseum that houses a round track. With all the noises reverberating off the walls it is impossible to hear anything. But the good news is that before slipping on your helmets you put in our earbuds, plug them into our 2 way radios, and then turn the radio on. On the other side of the airwaves is our spotter and crew chief.  The ear buds drown out all the noise and the small little earpieces inside of them allow my spotter and crew chief to talk to me, while I still can hear some of the noise, I am able to block out most of it, and listen to them, paying attention to all the instructions and information they are giving to me. 

My Sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. -John 10:27

My earbuds and earpieces are like the Holy Spirit, they enable me to drown out the noise and give me the tools to hear God. The radio is  like the word of God, I can get on the right channel with the Holy Spirit and God’s will by examining the word. And when I think I am hearing from God I can compare the word to what I feel I am hearing, truly knowing if I am hearing from God. We must take time and make an effort to drown out the noise, ignore it, and focus in on God, and as we hear from Him, we can have confidence that hope is on its way.

Assignment:

Take 10 minutes every day beyond your devotion to first pray, and then to sit and seek God’s voice: a quiet place we can all retreat too.  Write down what you hear during the quiet time and then go examine it against the word.  Write down thoughts that come to you, verses you may remember, things you feel are on your heart, or even those quiet little words you might hear from God.

Prayer:

Dear God, I thank you that today you speak, that you are still speaking, and that it is possible to hear you speaking!  Lord, I pray that you help me quiet all the outside noise and distractions that are keeping me from hearing you, help me to take control of those things that are vying to take away my attention and hearing, being able to drown them out so I may hear from you more clearly.  God, may I find the hope you have for me in your still small voice and in your word, standing on the promise of eternal life in Heaven through your Son Jesus Christ that brings hope.   May the power of hope overwhelm me as I press into you Jesus.  I pray all of this in Jesus Name. Amen.