Background Noise

As I got deeper into my study of I Corinthians chapter thirteen this morning, I began to recall my days as a Process Supervisor in the fabrication area at Agilent Technologies.  One of my last assignments was supervising in the Precision Milling Department.  During that six or more year period, my desk was located on the machining floor right in the middle of the shop.  For the majority of that time I did not wear ear protection because it has never been comfortable for me to have something in my ear.  During my last year in that position I finally found an electronic pair of noise cancelling ear muffs.

I had originally purchased them for my machinists to try to see if they liked them or not.  Most of them did not because of the extra weight of the electronics they contained. (It was a new technology at the time and they were not as small or light as today’s current technologies allow for)  Well, their loss was my gain as I didn’t mind the weight and they muffled the noise in the building without causing me to feel like I was in a tunnel!  The only problem was that it was too little, too late!  The damage was already done.

I could not figure out why my shoulders would be so tight and sore when I would go home at night with an accompanying headache until I later learned that it was my body reacting to the high noise level that I was subjected to day in and day out.  Another annoying symptom was the lack of patience I would have when I got home and walked into a room where the kids were just playing around and having fun… but making noise! It seemed like just about any steady background noise would drive me crazy!

Over the years my ears have gotten better, but I still find myself very sensitive and distracted by background noise.  At times it is difficult for me to carry on a conversation on the phone if music and especially talking is going on in the background on either end of the conversation.  Sometimes I enjoy shutting off the sound on the TV for a minute or two so I can just bask in the utter quiet of the moment!

I summarized I Corinthians thirteen this morning with the thought that anything that is said or done without Godly love is simply noise!  It becomes just like that irritating, distracting and grating background noise that bothers me to no end.  The very first verse sets the mood of the rest of the chapter by declaring “If I speak with the eloquence of men and of angels, but have no love, I become no more than blaring brass or crashing cymbal. (Phillips)  In other words, I become no more than just a lot of noise!

The more I read, the more I began to realize the high standard that has been set for us when it comes to walking in the Christ kind of love.  I also saw, with a twinge of personal conviction, how the Apostle Paul was linking God’s standard of love with his definition of a mature, strong Christian man!  He makes it pretty clear to me that actions void of this kind of love are childish in nature, while those accompanied with and driven by His love are the mark of a mature individual.

To my dismay, I also saw my un-loving response to those who have been negative to our plight over the last few years.  I realized that they have become nothing more but an irritating background noise to me.  I noticed that I automatically go into a protect mode when I talk with them, and most times, I really don’t listen to what they are saying… even if it is positive.  It would seem that I have written them off!

As I look at God’s high standard, I see that there are areas where I have definitely fallen short of the goal!  And yeah, in the natural I suppose I could feel that I have the right to ignore them because their behavior is still very irrational to me at times… But… according to what I understand of Paul’s words in I Corinthians thirteen, that doesn’t give me the green light to go against the mark that God is calling me to attain to, does it?  I don’t think so!

In his commentary of this chapter, William Barclay stated that this kind of love “is the fire which gives the spark to faith, and it is the light which turns hope into certainty.”  I definitely don’t want to be an irritating, grating and distracting background noise to someone else!  I want to be that gentle, loving, peace giving spark that helps to ignite another’s faith and one that assists in illuminating an individual’s hope in the power of God working the miraculous in their lives.  Wow!  How about you?

Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What or Whom am I expecting today?”