Too Much Noise

Have you ever walked into a public place, like a sports event, a county fair, or even the grocery store, and the noise and movement of all that hustle and bustle became so overwhelming that you actually began to feel sick? Kind of like motion sickness. The noise becomes almost unbearable, and all the motion begins to blend together.

I never had a problem with this until my first neck surgery. I've learned that many people experience this after surgery. There were times it got so bad that I didn't even want to go into the store. The noise just became too much.

It took about two years before things got better. That was short-lived. Then came my second surgery, and here we go again. My last surgery was 12 years ago, and most of that nausea has subsided. But even today, during the holiday season or in a very busy place like Costco (and we won't even talk about Buc-ee's), I can feel my head begin to swim, like I just stepped off the merry-go-round.

It reminds me of a scene in the movie Bruce Almighty. Bruce has just been given God's powers, and suddenly he starts hearing voices. First a whisper, then dozens, then thousands, until his head is filled with the roar of every prayer in the city, all at once. He can't think, and he can't sleep. He tries sorting the prayers onto sticky notes, and they bury him from head to toe. Finally he gives up and answers “yes” to every single one without really hearing any of them, and the whole city falls into chaos.

That's what too much noise does. When everything is shouting at once, you can't hear any one voice clearly. So you stop listening and just say yes to whatever comes at you.

I got to thinking about this the other day, and I had to ask myself: is that what I'm doing to my own walk with God? See, we allow so much noise into our lives. Noise in the form of Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, everything except what we're actually supposed to be doing. Visual noise and audio noise, all the things of the world we pour into our minds day after day. And then we wonder why we can't hear the Holy Spirit.

Scripture tells us we can grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) and quench Him (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Every time we choose the scroll over the Word, the noise over the quiet, we crowd out the very voice we need most. All He's asking for is room: time in prayer, time in fellowship, time in the Word.

And here's the thing: the enemy loves this. He doesn't always need a dramatic attack. Sometimes all he has to do is keep the noise turned up. Keep us scrolling, keep us distracted, keep our heads swimming so we never get quiet long enough to hear God.

Because as long as we're swimming in the noise, we stay stuck in our hurts, our habits, and our hang-ups. The noise drowns out the very voice that could set us free.

God has never been in the noise. Look at Elijah. Worn out and running for his life, he stood on the mountain before the Lord: “And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” (1Kings 19:11–12)

Wind, earthquake, fire. All loud, all powerful, and God wasn't in any of it. He was in the still, small voice that came after the noise.

The world is loud. It's the endless scroll, the constant chatter, the hustle and bustle that leaves our heads swimming. But Paul doesn't just tell us to turn the noise down. He tells us to be "transformed by the renewing of our mind." Not an empty mind, but a renewed one, filled with prayer, fellowship, and the Word.

So ask yourself: what's flooding my mind? What has my head swimming? And what would it look like to turn down the noise of the world long enough to hear that still, small voice?

Don't drown Him out. Turn the noise down, and listen.

Blessings to you,

Mark Lauer