Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. I love the cool mornings this time of year and it is as if I hold onto them a little harder because I know one day soon they will slip into winter and it will be too cold to spend my mornings with the Living God outside. This morning was a little odd to me because I didn’t see any of my morning companions. No deer. No rabbits. No squirrels. The one thing I did see (and hear) was a crow cawing in the top of this tree and it seemed to be giving it everything it had to give. I tried to ignore the repetitive sound, but it seemed to get louder and louder and before I knew it, the crow had turned my attention away from the Living God and onto the noise. The Author and Perfector of my Faith used this noisy crow to drive home a message to me – sometimes all it takes is a little noise in a dark world to turn our eyes toward things of this world instead of things of God. Can you see the danger of that too?

The world is filled with lots of noise these days, noise intended to draw our eyes off the King and onto this world. Whether it’s talk of the economy, the election, global warming, gender, sex, or false prophets, there is no end to the noise designed to distract. As surely as this crow cawed to make a statement, there are plenty of people out there cawing to be heard and if they’re ignored, they just get louder and louder too. Sometimes the timid ones are afraid of the “crows” in this life because they make so much noise and many will scurry off just like birds do when the crow comes cawing…as if they have something to fear. Sometimes people become enchanted by the noise and they can’t seem to get enough of the tune they long to hear. It’s their insatiable appetite for the cawing that often leads them away from Truth. And then there are others who have become crows-in-training and they work hard to learn how to caw from the highest branch too. Somehow they’ve convinced themselves that God wants them to make a lot of noise and that without them, He can’t complete the Work He has Planned for the world. But God’s Plans can’t be thwarted whether we choose to caw or not. There is a tremendous difference between being Bold Warriors for Jesus Christ and noise makers attempting to distract and THAT Truth can only be found in the Living, Breathing Word of God.

When God wants to get the attention of His people He knows how to make “noise” of His own. When the prophet Elijah was at the end of his rope, God called for a meeting on the mountain. The Bible says, “Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a still SMALL VOICE. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” I’m no expert but it seems to me that God was letting Elijah know that hearing from Him doesn’t involve “noise”. There’s no need to fly to the top of a branch to caw meaningless noise to the dark world. God is found in the quiet and He tells us to “be still and know that I am God”. It is said that it’s “he who screams the loudest wins” and there’s a whole lot of truth to that. But the God who calmed the sea with the sound of his voice doesn’t need noise makers – He needs Spiritual Warriors that Understand the war and who have been Taught how to fight and win…and it doesn’t involve cawing from the highest branch.

I’m like a “watchman on the hill” and I do my fair sharing of noisemaking when it comes to sharing the Gospel and warning God’s people. I’ve been known to make some noise of my own as I cawed from the highest branch I could find UNTIL I came to Realize that making noise isn’t glorifying to God and it’s not what He calls us to do. In fact, noisemaking has everything to do with the Deciver instead. The God of the “still small voice” – the One who calmed a storm with the sound of His voice DOES NOT command His people to make noise and it’s all the cawing that is taking the Focus OFF of the Living God and ONTO things of this world. There is a song that says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus – Look full in his wonderful face – And the things of earth will grow strangely dim – In the light of his glory and grace” and that’s where you’ll find me no matter what’s going on in this dark world. I can’t wait to see the Miraculous things that nobody has the knowledge to even caw about. Until then, I’ll continue to be still and KNOW that He is God.

How about you?