Recently I spent a few days with an old college friend that I hadn’t seen in a while. My weekend trip took me out to the boonies of Connecticut where he rents a small apartment. He lives in one of those small towns where the pace of life is much slower and quieter than what I am used to. My friend has fit right in to this slow-paced lifestyle. You’ll find no TV or internet in his small apartment. He has grown to enjoy the solitude and silence of the country side.

After arriving at his place and re-connecting for a while, I was ready to go out and do something. The lack of noise and stimulus was getting a little uncomfortable. He suggested that we just hang out. So we did. All weekend long. As I was driving home two days later it hit me that I may just be addicted to noise.

Think about the average person’s day. We wake up to a beeping alarm clock and maybe check our e-mail before we hop in the shower. As we are getting dressed we turn the TV on to check out the high lights of last night’s game. On our way to work we listen to a little talk radio or the overly chirpy morning show guys. Once at work it’s an endless barrage of e-mails, meetings, text messages and voice mails. When we get home at night we may hop on the treadmill while listening to our iPod. We do that before we sit down and channel surf for a few hours. It’s very possible to go through an entire day without any silence.

Jesus placed a premium on silence. I imagine that if He was on earth today he would live and schedule his life much different than ours. Before He began his public ministry, Scripture tells us that he spent 40 days abstaining from people and food in a quiet place to prepare Himself for the mission God had given him.

In Luke 5:16 we are told that “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places.” Jesus spent a considerable amount of time in solitude and prayer to focus and connect with His Father.

Are you addicted to noise like me? Let’s vow to intentionally make time every day for silence. Because it’s in these quite times that God loves to speak to us most.

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