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Be Still To Hear

Meditation Hearing God's Voice Distractions

Source: Directions by James Hamilton

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2018-01-05

Scripture: Psalms 46:10

Author: James Hamilton
25

ILLUSTRATION

In his book Directions, author James Hamilton shares this insight about listening to God:

Before refrigerators, people used icehouses to preserve their food. Icehouses had thick walls, no windows and a tightly fitted door. In winter, when streams and lakes were frozen, large blocks of ice were cut, hauled to the icehouses and covered with sawdust. Often the ice would last well into the summer.

One man lost a valuable watch while working in an icehouse. He searched diligently for it, carefully raking through the sawdust, but didn't find it. His fellow workers also looked, but their efforts, too, proved futile. A small boy who heard about the fruitless search slipped into the icehouse during the noon hour and soon emerged with the watch.

Amazed, the men asked him how he found it.

"I closed the door," the boy replied, "lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I heard the watch ticking."

APPLICATION

Often the question is not whether God is speaking, but whether we are still enough and quiet enough to hear. Yes, Jesus assures us that our heavenly Father always listens to us, but do we really listen to Him? Do we follow the instructions of Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God?"

We Are God's Advertisements

Witness Glorify God Distractions

Source: "ADVERTISING: HOW MANY MARKETING MESSAGES DO WE SEE IN A DAY?" by David Lamoureux, posted fluiddrivemedia.com

Link to Source: Click here to view source

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2014-09-19

Scripture: Matthew 5:16 ; 1 Corinthians 9:22

Author: Illustration Exchange / David Lamoureux
6

ILLUSTRATION

According to Jay Walker-Smith of Yankelovich Consumer Research, "We've gone from being exposed to about 500 ads a day back in the 1970s to as many as 5,000 a day today the 2000s." This is a staggering, seemingly impossible number. It helps to understand that this estimate includes ALL advertising exposure, including the labels on every item your eye surveys in the aisles of the grocery store, to the labels on your Fruit of the Loom undies, and everything in between (TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, Facebook feeds, billboards, taxi and bus banners, etc.). Well, you get the message. Or then again, maybe you don't.

"The fact that you and the message are in reasonable proximity for you to see it doesn’t mean you saw it. Our brains can’t truly process that many messages. We can’t notice, absorb, or even judge the personal merit of thousands of visual attacks a day," says award winning media and brand strategist, David Lamoureux.

"Look at Times Square, for example," he continues:

That has to be the densest concentration of buy-me messages on the planet. I’m guestimating myself, but I would think that if you stood on the top of the bleachers by the B’way ticket office in Times Square and slowly turned around while counting every ad on every DiamondVision, doorway, cab, bus, billboard, light pole, building, sandwich board, hawker, and flyer you’d come up with no less than 500 messages. That’s 20 minutes of overload in a perfect storm of advertising. But we don’t look at ads that way. We skim to see what speaks to or connects with our core wants, desires, and values. That’s why engagement is such a hot topic in marketing today.

APPLICATION

God desires that we become His living advertisements in our world. But in a world with so many competing and distracting messages, we must find a way to distinguish ourselves. 

If we are to do so successfully we must not be that obnoxious, cliched jingle that plays over and over again on every radio station. Rather, we must seek to "engage" our audience. Unbelievers, like consumers, will "skim" their surroundings to see and hear only what "speaks" to them or "connects" with them.

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). Becoming "all things to all men, that we might by all means save some" (1 Corinthians 9:22).

Dangers of Distracted Driving

Distractions Temptation Hearing God's Voice

Source: "Effects of Verbal and Spatial-Imagery Tasks on Eye Fixations While Driving," M.A. Recarte, Ph.D., and L.M. Nunes, Ph.D.; Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, Vol. 6, No.1; and, WORLD REPORT ON ROAD TRAFFIC INJURY PREVENTION, published by WHO (Worl

Link to Source: Click here to view source

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2014-07-19

Scripture: Hebrews 12:3

Author: Illustration Exchange
3

ILLUSTRATION

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) provides a working definition for distracted driving:
“Distraction occurs when a driver voluntarily diverts attention away from driving to something not related to driving that uses the driver’s eyes, ears, or hands.” Hand held phones are the most notable culprits, but everything from lighting up a cigarette, to applying make-up or eating a Big Mac all qualify as distractions.
 
Consider the danger of phone use alone. According to the WORLD REPORT ON ROAD TRAFFIC INJURY PREVENTION, 2004, “Research has shown that the reaction time of drivers increases by 0.5 to 1.5 seconds when they are talking on handheld phones, and drivers have difficulty maintaining the correct positions in their lanes, maintaining appropriate speeds and judging and accepting safe gaps in traffic. Some evidence indicates that drivers who use hand-held phones face a risk of crash four times higher than risk faced by other drivers, imperiling themselves and other road users.”
 
Another recent study considered the impact of visual distractions, “Psychologists M.A. Recarte, Ph.D., and L.M. Nunes, Ph.D., of the Universidad Complutense, in Madrid, Spain, examined whether a driver's eye movements would be affected by additional  … tasks to the point where the driver's ability to pay attention to his or her surroundings is sacrificed. … The authors found that when distracted drivers fixated on certain points longer and, therefore, glanced at their mirrors and dashboard less.  … ‘It seems that during the visual distractions, a person's eye freezes up, and the eye's visual inspection window decreases, which impairs perception of the environment,’ said Dr. Recarte.”

APPLICATION

When navigating the highways of life, distractions can be deadly. Don't allow the competing voices of culture and peers to deafen you to the voice of the Savior, or the sights of worldly temptation to blind you to the wisdom of God.

If we are going to “fixate” our gaze on anything, let it be on Jesus. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:3).

Too Many Channels

Distractions Seeker New Birth

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2014-05-23

Author: Nielsens.com
1

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World's Quietest Room Can Drive You Mad

Hearing God's Voice Distractions Patience

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2014-04-12

Scripture: Isaiah 40:31 ; Lamentation 3:26

Author: Alexander Davis/Illustration Exchange
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Dangers of Daydream Driving

Devotion Distractions Vigilance

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2013-10-24

Scripture: various

Author: Illustration Exchange
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The Price Of Late Obedience

Obedience Distractions Procrastination

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2013-05-13

Scripture: Psalms 119:15

Author: Illustration Exchange
8

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Undetected Meteor Slams Russian Town Injuring 1000

Sin Distractions Self-examination

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2013-02-19

Scripture: Matthew 5:21

Author: Illustration Exchange
8

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A Steady Attention to the Voice of the True Shepherd

Devotion Distractions Contentment

Contributed By: Illustration Exchange | Date Posted: 2013-01-06

Scripture: Hebrews 13:5 ; 1 Timothy 6:6

Author: John Woolman, as quoted by Richard Foster
1

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How The Blind See

Distractions Addiction Spiritual Blindness

Contributed By: Travis Morin | Date Posted: 2012-12-11

Scripture: John 9:25

Author: Travis Morin
0

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