White Noise (A Lesson from My Hair Dryer)

Yes, this is a picture of me drying my hair. I smiled for the camera! This morning I was praying during this everyday activity, and a few thoughts occurred to me. It may seem like my mind was wondering, but the ideas are worth pondering.

When the hairdryer is running and humming in my ear my husband will sometimes try to begin a conversation with me from across the room. I find this aggravating because I can't hear him. I was thinking about how great it is that I can talk to God and he can hear me no matter what noise is going on around me. The more I thought about it though I realized; if I were to say something to my husband while I am drying my hair he would probably hear me because the sound of the device is not so close to him. I began to wonder, "can I hear God when I pray through the white noise of life"? . Hopefully I can hear him speak to me through the sounds in my ears, but how much white noise in my heart do I try to converse with him through? Am I really trying to have a conversation, or is it mostly just one-sided babbling?

Last Friday the scenario occurred that I previously mentioned. I got aggravated because I couldn't hear my husband and he stopped trying to communicate with me. After a while I decided what I really needed was to just spend some time with him; time with no interruptions or distractions or loud noises interfering with our communication. I took him by the hand and began walking toward the living room, the one room in our house that is usually free of messes and clutter. I was glad that he was willing to go with me, glad that he was willing to put aside what he was doing. We sat on the sofa and talked. We simply engaged in two-way conversation; the kind where each person has a chance to share their thoughts and ideas. It was refreshing and restorative. The tension dispersed. We were able to connect.

Oh, how many times my conversations with God take place with the hum of a million thoughts bouncing around in my head. I am not really listening, I'm just talking endlessly. How many times I say what I need to say but the white noise in my heart drowns out His response. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with praying while I go about the activities of my day, it's scriptural: 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, "pray continually;" those two words must be important, they make up the entire verse. I do hear Him speak to me during the daily activities of life, but my focus here is the importance of setting aside times just to spend with God. We should always be in fellowship and communion with Him, but sometimes that is all we should be doing. What better way is there to be refreshed and restored, to release tension, and to really connect with our Creator, our Father, our God?