“Baba Yetu” (Swahili: Our Father) by Christopher Tin, performed by Slovak National Symphony Orchestra, Crouch End Festival Chorus, and Stanford Talisman.
11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; 12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. 1 Thess 4:11-12 (KJV)
How to Detox From Noise.
Quietness is worth being cultivated. In a world where noise is embraced and many cannot negotiate any part of the day without a cell phone attached to their ear, quietness is feared. The Lord does not always speak in the kind of voice that makes the mountains smoke. Sometimes He is the “still small voice” that speaks to your heart and whispers in your ear “This is the way. Walk ye in it.” (Isaiah 30:21) If we aren’t paying attention, we will miss His message. This is a dangerous blindness that makes us prone to missteps, sin, suffering and fear. It also causes us to fail when we are presented with challenges in the world. When we value the voice of others more than we value the voice of God, we take heed to advice that does not have the benefits of omniscience and omnipotence. The arms of friends and family aren’t strong enough to defeat chords woven especially for you by the enemy of your soul.
So, what steps can we take to detox from noise?
1. First of all, use your free will to put it down, whatever it is. Pray for insight as to what its have to be put away, and ask the Lord for the strength to follow through. Whatever the Lord reveals to your heart as “it”, be determined to have it remain put away. Be it television, bad company, music, Internet or telephone, put things in their place. Their place is not in your heart.
2. Use your mouth to say no. No you will not attend that party or go to that bar. No you will not date that married man, or search the room for opportunities for illicit sex. If you are not married, you will not consider sex an option at all (That’s right: If you are not married, sex is NOT AN OPTION.) 1 Corinthians 6:18 says: Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
3. Guard your eyes and your heart. You will refuse to flirt. You will replace seductive clothes with those that are “decent” (decent does not mean dowdy). Cover your cleavage, crotch, knees and arms to help others protect their eyes and heart. Proverbs 4:23 says:
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Job 31:1 says: I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
4. Do not long for what others have. Exodus 20:17 says
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
5. Decide to be glad for the good fortune of others, and comfort others in their sorrows. Show empathy! Romans 12:15 says:
Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
6. Share your resources in a way that is wise. Also: no more co-dependent behavior. Proverbs 3:27 says: Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
7. Be a good steward of your finances. Live within your means. Pay your bills on time or make payment arrangements and keep them. Proverbs 27:23 says: Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.
8. Establish order in your home and be a real parent to your children. Ephesians 6:4 says: And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
The human body is full of energy. It is a transmitter. We transmit and receive signals every minute of every day. So it is vital that we control the messages we send. By keeping the “noise” out of our speech, thought and action transmissions, we will improve our ability to receive and give transmissions (communications and behaviors) that are pure.
