Drown Out The Noise, Amplify His Voice
When I lost my sight in both eyes in 2015, I also completely lost hearing in my left ear.
While I do not write as often about this aspect of my disability, it still impacts my life in many ways.
Thankfully, the hearing in my right ear was not damaged, so I still have relatively good hearing overall.
However, when you combine my sight loss with my partial hearing loss, things can get pretty tricky!
I have a hard time hearing any soft noises that originate on my left side, and it took me a long time to get used to only holding the phone up to my right ear.
In fact, this is how I found out that I had lost hearing in one ear. I held the phone up to my left side, as I had done so many times before, and I realized that I couldn’t hear anything or anyone on the other end.
In large crowds or noisy situations, my lack of sight combined with decreased hearing also makes it very difficult to keep up with conversation or completely follow along with what is going on around me.
A close up of a hand showing a small hearing aid in black and white.
To make up for these challenges, I wear hearing aids that allow the sound on my left side to be amplified.
Without this tool, sounds can be a bit dull and hard to discern, and these helpful gadgets allow me to turn up the volume on what is going on around me.
Do you ever feel like the noise and distractions in your life tend to dull God’s voice?
It has definitely happened to me from time to time.
We get busy rushing through life or caught up in our worries, and we allow Him to get lost in the background noise of our day-to-day.
Sometimes, I just need a way to turn up the volume and amplify God’s voice and presence.
One way that we can turn up the volume on God is by reminding ourselves of His ever-presence.
God is always right there with us, no matter how loud life gets, and this can be so comforting to remember. In these moments, I find it easiest to hear, feel, and draw nearer to God by diving into His word and reading over scripture.
Psalm 139:7-12 is one of my favorite passages to remind me of God’s ever-presence.
It says,
“I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night. But even in darkness, I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.”
(Psalm 139:7-12)
Second, don’t turn down the volume, to begin with!
One of the best ways we can ensure that God’s voice remains loud and clear in our lives is by keeping that line of communication open.
Distance can easily form in any relationship when we allow our calls, texts, or visits to become less frequent.
It is the same with God.
Although He is ever-present and always there if we do not take an active part in speaking with Him, His presence can begin to feel distant and His voice can begin to sound muffled.
I like to think of prayer as a conversation, and, in order for us to hear Him on the other end, we must make sure we are staying active and constant in our part of the communication.
As we keep that line of communication with Him open and barrier-free, His voice will come through no matter how loud the background noise may become.
Graphic with Sara Claudia Ministries logo with text that says, "His voice will come through no matter how loud the background noise may become."
Third, we need to surround ourselves with others who are willing to give us a soundcheck from time to time.
Recently, I faced a situation that made me very worried and anxious.
I don’t know about you, but when I face times like these, I have to work extra hard to amplify God.
It is so easy for me to become lost in these hardships, and, thus, feel distant from God.
So, when I was feeling this way, I texted my fiancé who immediately sent back a prayer and reminded me to stay in constant contact with the Lord about my worries, because only He has power over them.
This message grabbed my attention and allowed God’s comfort and peace to breakthrough!
It is so important to surround ourselves with people in our lives who can build us up in Christ in this way.
Similar to God’s ever-presence, the sounds around me are always there, even if I cannot hear them well.
In these situations, all I need to do is pop in my hearing aids and amplify them so that I can walk through life easier and more comfortably.
Likewise, if we remember to focus on God’s presence, stay in constant communication with Him, and lean on friends who can convey His promises, God’s voice will be able to ring true no matter how loud and distracting our lives may become!
