Can You Hear Me?

So, I got an upgrade on my cell phone last weekend.  I replaced my iphone 3 with a 4S.  I like it, its a nice phone.  It has the bells and the whistles, anything you could really ask for from a 'phone'.  I guess that is why I am drawn to it in the awkward moments when I am not doing something immeadiatly and have a few seconds of "me" time.  It's as if there are times when I can't stand empty space in my life.  I guess thats what is marketed too.  Get more things done in less time because if you gain a few moments maybe you can fill it playing Angry Birds or something.

The problem is that I see our whole society moving this direction.  It's beginning to give me an eery feling when I walk into a Starbucks and where you used to hear 'in depth' conversations and laughter, now all I see from time to time is people buried in an ipad, cell phone, or laptop...silently clicking, swiping, and typing away with earbuds in.

Technology has promised us greater efficiency, multitasking, and greater user experiances.  There is now so much to do...thank goodness for technology....right?

This morning, (after my iphone woke me up with it's alarm) I went and grabbed, get this, a book, well the Bible.  I started reading in John chapter 10.  I wont go on to give a commentary of John 10 although it is full of wonderful insight and dimention.  The crazy thing that stood out to me this morning is that Jesus says that his sheep KNOW him because they hear his voice.  They also know which voices are not the shepards and run from them.

There is so much that goes on during the day.  Our agendas are always full, we never let a dull moment go unoccupied.  Attention grabbing devices are available 24/7.  We struggle to know God's will for our life so we search the internet for atricles and video's to help...rearely does.

I believe that God is always speaking, but he is not going to try to compete with the other voices that are filling our world.  God is speaking, but when our prayers are filled with us rattling off our list of desires, saying amen and moving on we do not hear. 

I think it's about time we put down the phone.  I think its about time we realize that it is not us that initiates the prayer.  I think its about time we stop and listen.  We are in danger of not recognizing the Shepards voice, a voice that doesn't come through earphones.