Recently, while researching bluebird houses on the
internet I came across a peculiar article published in The Washington Post about how scientists in New Mexico have been
studying the effects of noise pollution on birds. The article began by telling
the story of one of these bluebirds in the study which had built her nest 75
yards from a natural gas compressor. As the weeks passed scientists noted that
her stress hormone levels became skewed and her health deteriorated. In fact,
her body broke down and her hatchlings couldn’t survive. When scientists later
sampled her blood, they found the same physiological symptoms as humans who
suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. The article went on to describe the
debilitating effects of noise pollution on nature and humans saying, “Noise
causes all creatures to be in a state of constant arousal and hyper-vigilance.
The result is a state of chronic fatigue and anxiety. No organism is capable of
essentially running on turbo all the time.”[1]
That bluebird story could be the “canary in the coal mine”
warning us of a more serious problem in our hustle-and-bustle world. If noise
pollution can be hazardous to our bodies, imagine what it does to our souls. We’re
deluged daily with noise, distractions, technology and the clamor of our
culture. In cities the sounds of jackhammers, car horns, and sirens are
unending. At home our televisions, laptops, tablets and smartphones are constantly
playing, chirping, beeping, blaring and pinging. Our world is blanketed by so much
noise—loud, harsh and unsettling—that our souls are chronically distressed.
That is exactly why the Scriptures place a premium on
meeting God in silence. Psalm 62:5 says, “My soul waits silently for God alone,
for my expectation is from him.” Habakkuk 2:20 says, “The Lord is in His holy
temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.” In 1 Kings 19 the prophet
Elijah was exhausted from fighting Queen Jezebel and the prophets of Baal. He
sought refuge in the wilderness where he disconnected from the frontlines to
learn what God had to say to him. The Bible says, “And behold, the Lord passed
by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the
rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an
earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a
fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low
whisper” (verses 11-12). Elijah learned firsthand what Psalm 46:10 describes, “Be
still and know that I am God.”
In order to hear the voice of God, we must turn down the
volume of the world. We cannot be in service for God, if we don’t slow down and
in silence let God speak to us. Vance Havner wrote, “There is no work more
likely to crowd out the quiet hour than the very work that draws its strength
from the quiet hour.”[2]
Remember, Jesus often retreated from sound and fury of ministry to pray and hear
from His Father (Mark 1:35). If the Son of God needed that, then how much more
do we? In the stillness of the night under a starry sky, in a hushed sanctuary,
on a front porch rocking chair or by a babbling brook, with Bible in hand we
can meet the living God and hear Him speak in the silence. -DM
[1]
Sarah Kaplan, Some Birds Are So Stressed by Noise Pollution It Looks Like They
Have PTSD,” The Washington Post 9
January 2018 <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/01/09/some-birds-are-so-stressed-by-noise-pollution-it-looks-like-they-have-ptsd/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.33266370eb5e>
[2]
Dennis J. Hester, The Vance Havner Quote
Book (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1986). 181.
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