The Squelch Knob of Life
For those of you with any CB radio experience (or other transmitting radios), squelch is nothing new. Simply put, it's a function that will eliminate extraneous noise from distant or lower strength sources so your radio receives only closer or stronger signals. It gives you much more focus on the signals you want to receive, and silence during the times when there is none. My "squelching memories" come up most when I think about my early days hunting with large AM radios so we could communicate with each other in the woods. If we turned the squelch up too high, we would possibly lose critical communication, but too low would cause for a noisy time in the woods; not something that helps a focused hunt! It required balance.
These days squelch comes across my mind in an entirely different way when I think about things like:
- Billboards
- Radio Commercials
- Honking Horns and Sirens
- Workplace Chatter
- Video Games
- Television Shows
- Mega Stores and Malls
The list could continue ...
We are bombarded with so much noise in our lives it is no wonder at times I am simply exhausted when the quiet of night finally comes. There are times I actually introduce noise (music in my headphones) so I can eliminate noises elsewhere and concentrate; go figure. I wish at times I could take the squelch knob of life and crank it up to give myself a break from it all. However that's not an option, so I must find ways to focus the best I can. I think we all have our ways, but clearly for me it's prayer and quiet times like this as I write these words.
While we can blame mass media for adding so much noise to our life, I don't think that distractions are anything new. We like to worry, ponder, and think about things that don't ultimately don't matter much, or are out of our control. I think God had more than one thing for us to relate to when He spoke through Paul as these words were penned:
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Philippians 4:8 ESV)When I focus on Him, or His creation, or His glory, or the blessings in my life, or the amazing things that He has done in me personally, I am able to tune out the noise of the world. I don't necessarily turn off the world, I just direct my attention to Him. The noise is still there, but when I gaze upon His face it shines brighter than any other distraction could ever create.
If you don't know Him, I pray that you will take the time to ...
When I feel God tugging on my heart for some time with Him, I can either feel guilty that I have wandered, or I can feel amazed that He does not. I choose the latter. ~MeBlessings and Love,
~Matthew
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