Quiet Noise

I was thinking today about the passages in the Bible that instruct us to "be still" and to know God better in doing so. Passages like this one from Isaiah:

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
“Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved.
In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it.
(Isaiah 30:15)

A less familiar passage is found in the 32nd chapter of Isaiah's instruction from God to Israel, but this passage more aptly conveys the hope we have of a day when we will no longer struggle with the things that drown out God and His peace:

This will continue until God pours his Spirit from above upon us. Then the desert will be like a fertile field and the fertile field like a forest. Justice will be found even in the desert, and fairness will be found in the fertile fields. That fairness will bring peace, and it will bring calm and safety forever. My people will live in peaceful places and in safe homes and in calm places of rest.
(Isaiah 32:15-18)

Reading these passages, I was compelled to see how much "noise" goes completely undetected by me in my surroundings. I took a frequency analysis screenshot of my office where I work and one of the carpeted hallway outside my office. (See the Detailed Photos Here) It was absolutely amazing to think that so much noise gets pumped into my head every day - almost 20dB more than an acoustically suppressed hallway.

Just imagine how much more we will know God, someday, when we stand in His presence with nothing to distract us.

I think it is going to be amazing. I'll close with David's familiar words:

10 “Be still, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world.”11 The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is here among us;
the God of Israel is our fortress.
(Psalm 46:10-11)

Blessings to all of my friends, family and more this holiday season,

Grace and peace,

-Jeff