How is Your Hearing?
So, when I ask this question, I am referring to your HEARING. If you are a Christ follower, I mean are you hearing from God? I often tell clients our goal in counseling is to help remove the distractions that keep us from hearing the voice of God. In order to feel the presence of God, we need to remove the clutter, the business, the background noise. There are so many things in our lives that get in the way. I recently read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer. I highly recommend this book!
Comer shares that a recent study found the average iphone user touches his or her phone 2,617 times a day! I’m sure it is much less for Android users J. Two separate studies share that we see between 3-5,000 ads per day. The average person spends on average 3,442 hours a year on social media and TV. Comer goes on to share that in the year 2000 our average attention span was 12 seconds. Since then it has dropped to 8 seconds. Here is the scary part. The attention span of a goldfish is, ready for it??... 9 seconds!! So, I ask the question again, how is your hearing?
There is so much vying for our time. We have so many “competing” thoughts. Can you remember the last time you sought out quiet? Stillness? If we have all this going on, how can we hear from God? It is no wonder we feel overwhelmed, anxious, depressed…. angry. Several years ago, I did consult work at one of our local hospitals. I could always tell those that had been hospitalized for a long time when the nurse would come in and check the patients’ blood. They wouldn’t even wince. They had become numb to the prick. We are becoming numb. Numb to God, numb to our spouse, children, and friends.
Perhaps another blog will be about our identity. Ideally, if we are followers of Christ, our identity is in Him. We live in a world where more and more our identity is in what social media says about us. We see this every day with adolescents and now children in our office. We have to look at where we turn for meaning, for value, for worth. Where we place our time says a great deal about our identity and what we value.
So, I ask again, for me as much as you, how is your hearing? I Thessalonians 4:11 says, “This should be your ambition: to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we commanded you before.” Another verse in James 1:19 “Know this my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;”.
In closing you may be asking, so what can I do about this? I strongly recommend you read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry where Comer goes in to much more detail than I can in this short blog. In the meantime, slow down, look at where your time goes. Monitor your social media and TV time. Take a walk. Be intentional with your rest. Try to have some time alone. That may be difficult depending on your schedule, work, family, but you can make it happen. Right now, it may be an hour a week, but that is still an improvement.
When our children were little, Janet and I would, at times, trade off going to the beach. On other occasions, Janet would be gone for 2 hours going to the store for milk and bread. She needed time, and we had to be creative! At this juncture in our lives it is easier to “be still” for longer periods of time. I encourage you to have a time when all social media is off. Have only set times when you give yourself and your family access. Take walks…...slow walks, without your phone. Talk with God during this time.
If any of this rings true for you and you need help, give us a call. You may not need an appointment. You just want ideas. Give me a call. I will be glad to listen.
God Bless
Keith Niager, LCSW
If you would like to schedule an appointment or donate to the Barnabas Center for Counseling, please call our office at (912) 352-7638. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1 (800) 273-8255.
