Squirrel!

Have you seen this? Funny, huh?

I had to run by our local mall the other day and I went to the food court to grab a bite to eat. They have video monitors hanging from various places there and they are connected to speakers that are scattered around the area.

As I sat down to eat, I kept hearing something that reminded me of a sound check session for a second rate music concert; LOUD… then soft, LOUD… then soft again. It was quite distracting and annoying. I began to look around for what might be the cause of these awful distractions. Then I realized… “This is intentional!”

I noticed that, on the video monitors, every time the advertisement would change, the first one and a half to two seconds of the the accompanying sound would be considerably louder than the rest of the clip. This was an attempt to “get my attention.”

Our world is full of distractions; television, radio, smartphones, social media, baseball practice, soccer practice; you know, so many things that shout for attention in our daily lives. These are not inherently “bad” things, but they can be very distracting. They all fight for our focus.

1 Kings chapter 19 tells us of when Elijah found himself distracted and searching for answers in his life. In verses 11 through 14, we find God’s answer to him.

11-12 Then he was told, “Go, stand on the mountain at attention before God. God will pass by.”

A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.

13-14 When Elijah heard the quiet voice, he muffled his face with his great cloak, went to the mouth of the cave, and stood there.