The spring and summer months bring on all the varied activities of growing and harvesting alfalfa in our area of Central Oregon. It’s still only late spring, but the sounds of farming machinery are already starting.
The other day a crop duster buzzed us on its way to spraying one of the nearby fields. We often have military jets fly over our property too, which I absolutely love hearing. No relation to summer, but still worth noting.
These sounds had come right overhead and you couldn’t miss them. Sometimes we hear the odd cow lowing and on weekends we can hear motorcycles and dune buggies playing on the sand dunes nearby.
I recall sitting in our front yard in Paso Robles before we moved and the traffic noise on our busy street could be enough to drive us back inside.
During the late summer when the County Fair was going on, we could sometimes hear the concert music from two miles away. The loudness of the music got through despite lots of “town” in its way. I was glad it only lasted for ten days.
As I pondered the difference between being out in the country and being in a big city or even in a small town, I felt the Lord reminding me of a time last summer.
I was sitting on a lawn chair in the sand, doing nothing. I think even the bees were quiet. Suddenly I heard the sound of a swather, a machine used to harvest alfalfa. Its rhythmic droning filled the still air around me. It felt like it was only about 100 yards away.
But, unlike our old neighborhood, there’s not much in between us and the nearest alfalfa field a mile away. I could hear that sound as if it was right near me because there was nothing in the way, nothing to stop it. The sound waves weren’t being blocked.
As I marveled at the quiet peace of our area, I began to hear the still small voice of the Lord.
He helped me to realize how easily I can have my spiritual hearing dulled by all the “noise” around me. That could mean distractions, activities and busyness as well as media noise. I began to hear Him deep in my spirit.
Just like the sound of the jets and the crop duster that had flown overhead, roaring their sound, I understood that sometimes the Father speaks loud and clear.
He breaks through to us despite all the commotion and noise surrounding us. It’s easier to obey when His voice is like that. There isn’t much doubt about what He is trying to say.
However, what I began to discover was the difference between the “loud” revelations and the quiet peace of the Lord’s voice when there’s nothing in the way; nothing to stop it.
Spiritually speaking, I believe He wants us to be aware of how important it is to prepare a quiet place for Him to speak to us. A place where there isn’t a lot of stuff getting in the way.
Most of us know we need a daily quiet time with the Father. And that is extremely important. But sometimes, I think that quiet place actually needs to be a heart that’s undistracted by all the things of earth.
We need a heart attitude more than just a daily devotional. It requires us to lay aside the things that weigh us down and clear out all the noise. He wants us to hear His voice clearly.
My prayer for you today is that you will search your soul to determine what things might be getting in your way of hearing Him. Pray and ask Him to remove whatever is keeping His voice bouncing around the things you may have surrounded yourself with.
Today, I hope you’ll ask Him to help you make sure that when He speaks, His voice will be able to get through because there’s nothing to stop it.
Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”
Isaiah 28:23 “Give ear and hear My voice, listen and hear My words.”
John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;”
Always in Jesus,
Desirée Figg
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