Tinnitus of the Heart

TCSPZDT7FAUD 
"Wow, what is Tinnitus?"

Its funny you should ask...

Tinnitus is that wonderful ringing in your ears that seems only to last long enough to annoy you thoroughly.

The catch here is that although tinnitus may be a physical condition, we are also experiencing a parallel disease spiritually; and it may be the most deadly weapon of all.

We have been blown off course by a slight breeze that hides a strong current under the surface. 

What we are dealing with is a disease of distraction.

This disease has two parts. The first is the slight breeze; the ringing in the ears if you will. 

This is the part that catches our attention.

The ringing may translate into slight frustration or moodiness. Maybe you just seem more tired than normal, or your not getting as much done as you planned on getting done. 

Overall, the ringing translates into a simple inconvenience of some sort--something that can be handled. 

The interesting thing about the physical tinnitus is that it is usually the result of another event, an event which destroys cells in your ears.

The destruction is caused by excessive noise. This loud noise overloads the hearing mechanism, resulting in death.

The funny thing about this death is that it's permanent, and we have to take these symptoms of frustration, etc... seriously. 

Our heart is crying out for change.  

The cause of this death of our hearts is distraction. We are distracted from God's plan by the most harmless things, or at least seemingly harmless.

I set aside yesterday as a day of rest, only to find that by the end of the day i felt just as worn out as i had all week. The reason for this was that i was giving into the "harmless" distraction of clean television (to be exact, the animated series wolverine and the x-men)

Now, nothing seemed amiss while I was watching tv, in fact i was enjoying being able to sit and relax.

BUT (and there's always a 'but' to these situations) the feeling of relaxing was so momentary and quickly fleeting that this process began to distort my vision. 

We begin to remove true relaxation and fellowship with God, and replace it with distraction. 

Now, don't exclude yourself too soon. This distraction doesn't have too be tv (although it probably is for you if you think about it) and it doesn't even have to be media related! A distraction is simply something that gives you a false sense of fulfillment, and more importantly hinders you from glorifying God. 

I know that in my distracted state, I cannot bring myself to even do homework, let alone be able to connect with God enough to write this blog.

This disease rears its ugly head most often in times of high pressure, or when attempting to relax after times of high pressure.

As this process continues to subtly wreak havoc, we eventually find ourselves lost and confused with only the faint memory of the spiritual life we used to have, and not clue how to return to what once was.

This is the answer: we have been thrown off course by distraction, and the way back is to eliminate those distractions.

So maybe its time to ask yourself some hard questions:

What is the biggest distraction in your life right now?

How far have you been pushed off of your course, your pursuit of Christ?

What is keeping you from deeper intimacy with God?

It is time for action.

Start to destroy the harbingers of death in your life, and you will find life again.

Welcome God in. He stands at the door and knocks, and your distractions are barricading that door more and more as you let them rule over your.

Ask the people closest to you to be honest about the things they see in your life that are taking you away from God, and ask them to let you know when you show signs that your ears are ringing (i.e. moodiness, tiredness, etc...)

Examine your attitude at the beginning, middle, and end of each day to see if you've been blown off course.

I'm in.

Are you?