I've had the distinct pleasure of staying with some good friends a couple of times. Each time I noted the silence at night. They live in a quiet part of their community where there is only residential traffic. In contrast, I live near a main road that connects, not too far from my house, with a major interstate high way. The contrast at night was startling to me. At my home, I have grown accustomed to sirens at night, cars, trucks, ambulances etc. They zoom past my street with loud earth shaking volumes. Somehow I have learned to tune out the noise and sleep at night. When I was staying with my friends, there was such a peaceful sensation during the day that I was concerned about my ability to sleep well at night. I was out of my "comfort" zone. My environment is chaotic, loud and kinetic. Completely opposite of the serenity of life where I was visiting. We laughed and joked, but when the night came, I honestly didn't think I would be able to close my eyes and get the rest that My body needed. How wrong I was. I fell into a deep restful sleep both nights. I was able to sleep, dream, awaken and feel completely refreshed. The second time I stayed there it was for several days and so I experienced that peace and rest for several nights in a row. Can you imagine thinking that you need the noise and the chaos to get rest? I had become so desensitized to the noise in my neighborhood, that I was concerned of my ability to rest in the quiet. What's wrong with this picture?

We get so used to crazy, rushing, loud,dothisgotherebehereimlategottagetthere lifestyle, that when we find ourselves unable to cope with an atmosphere of true rest and refreshing.

We THINK we need the madness, and we fight it, but our body knows and longs for that solitude. That silence in the night. So many times we get trapped in the chaos and we can no longer imagine the world the way that God created it.

I found that not only was my body renewed in the silence of the night, but My spirit was restored. I wasn't caught up in the spiritual tension of the crisis that generated sirens, speeding cars and trucks, I was resting in the silent peace of God. It was there that my body, free of distractions, free of environmental over stimulation. It was there, that my spirit was able to tune into the presence of God that permeated that little town. When I came back home, I was restless and agitated. Sleep came, but it was fitful. Just a small time of being in that peaceful atmosphere was enough to show my body and spirit the marked drastic difference between where I was and where I am.

The psalmist said, "Be still and know that I am God." If we are so wrapped up in the chaos of life, unable to disassociate ourselves from that madness, that we cannot tune into the silence of a moment to know that God is God, then we need to rethink our lives and our relationship with our physical geographical location and our spiritual geographical location. The "state" we approach God in is just as important if not more important than the "state" we approach the Throne of God in.

If our lives are crazy noisy, how can we really focus, hear, and act on the word and direction of God? Today, instead of turning on the TV, checking facebook, phone messages, and email, I put on a teaching MP3. (Not a teaching tape, as I have embraced portions of the 21st century) about hearing God. I have to be proactive in shutting out the noise, just as I have to be proactive in being responsible for my eating and exercise habits. Once that discipline is in place, It will become easier to hear from God. Turning off the world and tuning into God, allowing His Spirit to have priority in my life instead of earschplittenloudenboomin that I had become accustomed to. Wow, so THAT'S a new dimension to the "Grace and Strength Lifestyle".

Pray Seek Believe Receive

David Michael Rose

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* Individual results may vary.