I woke up this morning with an analogy on my mind – a very specific one – “white noise”. This was before I’d even opened my eyes and was just taking in the wonderful feel and sound of my ceiling fan moving the air around my face. Then I opened up my little “quiet time” book and the words “white noise” were right there in print in front of me in my reading passage for the day! I took that as a hint that I needed to put my thoughts down about it…:-)
In my devotional, “white noise” was thought of as a negative thing – as a muffled noise that masks God’s clear voice in our lives created by our busyness and worries. I’m coming at it from a completely different direction. I think of “white noise” as a positive thing. Hear me out….
Just recently, my sweet neighbors helped me put up a ceiling fan in my bedroom. I had spent the past year (since we moved here) without the comforting sound of a fan. Before we moved to Colorado, I couldn’t even think of sleeping without the fan going. I loved how it moved the still air. How it cooled. How it’s constant purring rocked me to sleep. In the last year I adjusted to not having one after weeks of having a hard time falling asleep with no “white noise”. But when my friends put up the fan and I went to bed that night, I fell asleep quickly with a smile on my face, enjoying the familiar feel and sound of that constant movement.
God’s presence in my life is my “white noise”. The thing that gives me rest and peace in the middle of crazy busyness and anxious thoughts. The thing that calms me when I need to refocus. The thing that brings constant movement and refreshing air to everything I do.
I’ve mentioned before that when I’m writing, I put on piano music. It doesn’t distract me. It joins me and seems to flow through me as I write. It inspires and moves me. It is the “white noise” when I write. It is my muse. No other kind of music does that for me when I’m writing. (Violin music just came on and it’s totally throwing me off!)
Jesus is my background music. The backdrop for everything that I do. The song that my life sings to. He inspires and moves me. He joins me. He is my muse. The beautiful “white noise” that offers tranquility and proper perspective.
Don’t get me wrong. God’s voice is different than His presence. His voice, though sometimes quiet and subtle, is not white noise. It is clear and specific. But His presence and who He is, is underlying and constant. It is the never-changing “white noise” that continually reminds my heart that no matter what happens, He is there and will always be the same. And my heart can rest in that…
Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever….
