Saturday, March 16, 2013

LOUD NOISES




     I love this clip – it makes me laugh out loud every time!  Have you ever experienced your mind making a lot of loud noises?  Saying things to you that no one else can hear?  Trust me when I say that those noises/voices can be very loud at times and almost impossible to ignore.
     Remember a few weeks ago in class when Dr. Corsini asked us to sit in silence for a few minutes and hang out with God?  Well, it ended up being a frustrating time for me personally because my mind (part of the “immaterial me”) would not shut up.  It kept talking and reminding me of things that I was not supposed to be thinking about in light of the instructions that were given.  I found myself asking God to mute my thoughts, but it never happened (I’m not blaming God for that one).  I was so frustrated with myself, but it wasn’t like I was thinking anything improper or sinful – I just couldn’t focus on the task at hand. 
     My mind talks a lot (I really hope someone just said “mine does, too”).  Sometimes the things it says are no big deal: daydreaming, thinking about Friday while it’s only Monday, singing random songs about pick-up trucks and sweet ice tea, etc.  Other times, the noises can be damaging and defeating: reminders of past sins, reminders of early life failures, and comparing myself to other people.  The list could go on for a while.  All of us have noises in our mind that cause pain and anguish and they really can be damaging and defeating.  What can we do about those loud noises?  Additionally, what do we, as potential counselors, tell clients who come in asking us to help them overcome their noises?
     I understand that I am not yet professionally ready to sit across from another human being and tell them how they can overcome their damaging thought life.  However, I can share some areas where God has been at work in my life since that particular day in Dr. Corsini’s court room – I mean class.
     Knowing that my thoughts can be unhealthy and deceitful at times, it is important for me to develop some specific disciplines in this particular area.  It is easy for me to just sit and entertain certain thoughts without doing a single thing to fight or overcome them – I am lazy!  I am tired of allowing these voices to grow louder and louder so that they affect my relationship with God, with my family, with my friends, and in my witness to other individuals.
     I really appreciated what Dr. Hart had to say about meditation in his book, “The Anxiety Cure”.  Of course, we are all aware that there are different kinds of meditation out there today for people to experience, but Dr. Hart talks about Christian Meditation (CM). He describes CM as “the action of the Holy Spirit within the soul of the believer, releasing the presence of God to be felt and experienced down to the very marrow of every bone that brings healing” (p. 241).  I cannot overcome and rid my mind of these negative noises on my own.  I desperately need the Holy Spirit to intervene in order to be victorious in this particular battle. Meditation allows me the opportunity to seek the face of God through silence or prayer, reading or singing.  It’s about taking time to be with Him and Him alone, to be in His Word and to know what He has to say about me and my sins and my past failures.  Knowing God’s Word fills my mind with truth. Truth is a very powerful thing.  Truth brings victory, freedom, confidence, and hope.  Truth will silence the loud noises.  Jesus Christ is the Author of truth and we must seek Him constantly – for our sake and for the sake of those we will minister to one day as professional counselors.

     “…but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing, and perfect will.  For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”  Romans 12:2,3 (NIV).

    

 

5 comments:

  1. Hi Scott, I enjoyed reading your blog. It has so much truth to it, I often have thoughts in my mind that seems to take over at times. Those thoughts certainly get loud while I am in class, whatever class it may be. I often make up songs in my head, I think about how much better I can do with a particular subject. I often think about being out of college and relaxing at a beach house. Some thoughts I have, I will ask God to please take them away. I agree with christian meditation and staying focused on God. Nice blog!!! God bless!!

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  2. Hi Scott, I can definitely relate to this idea of loud noises and intrusive thoughts. I find that often it is difficult to get quiet not just because of the volume of the noise, but because of the number of voices that are fighting for my attention. Everything seems to get "crowded" in my mind and it becomes a battle any time I am trying to achieve stillness and rest. Even being alone with God can also bring up other distressing thoughts and feelings (at least for me). There are times when I approach God wanting that intimacy with Him, but at the same time I am afraid of what I might hear from Him (whether it be conviction about some sin, or guidance to move in a certain direction or make some big change, etc). But I think you are definitely right in that practicing stillness and alone time with God are essential to the Christian life...it is something that I too am working on!

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  3. I enjoyed reading your post. I enjoyed reading Hart’s book about anxiety also, and even though I practice Bikram Yoga and meditate on God [and not passing out during the more active poses] throughout, I still shift uncomfortably when anyone mentions “meditation” in a Christian context. It seems as though we Christians have taken an active approach to being a Christian when clearly the Bible gives alternatives to actively worshipping and learning. Joshua 1:8 (CJB, 1998) reads, “Yes, keep this book of the Torah on your lips, and meditate on it day and night, so that you will take care to act according to everything written in it. Then your undertakings will prosper, and you will succeed.”

    The Shabbat service practicing Jews hold hold every week is also full of mediations and includes doctrine from the noted Bible verse. In one liturgy, “Avahat Olam”, the Jewish people recite the history of God’s love towards His people, Israel—the Jews. The Jews determine how they will respond: “When we lie down and rise up, we will discuss Your laws and rejoice in the words of Your Torah and commandments forever and ever. For they are our life and length of our days; we will meditate on them day and night. Do not remove Your love from us ever! Blessed are You Eternal One, lover of the people Israel.” (nfty.org, “actions”, 2013)

    The promotion of meditation is built into their service and if this practice has been in the worship long before Jesus the Messiah was born to Mary, I’d say there’s something more to meditation than what we give credit.

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  4. Scott, I appreciate your honesty in your blog. I am one of the people that said "me too" while reading about hearing loud noises in your head. It can be so frustrating and can cause anxiety. I agree about Christian Meditation and how we need to go about CM. Gods Truth is the only thing that can set us free from bondage and from lies. We all need to practice CM more especially going into this field of counseling. Thank you for this reminder and challenge!

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  5. Hey Scott,

    I enjoyed your blog post and I agree with you that it would helpful to have discipline in controlling your thoughts and mind. One problem that I have (and I believe that a lot of people in my generation have) with this discipline is the consumer mind that I have. I am continuously searching the internet, listening to music, studying for school, and never taking time to rest my mind.

    I think it would be very beneficial for myself and a lot of my generation to learn how to rest our minds and to be ok with silence. For Christian, I feel that it would be especially beneficial in their relationships with Christ. It very hard for busy minds to focus in their quiet times on the Lord. Meditation could be the key in developing productive quiet times.

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