When the Siren is Silenced

Our first few nights as homeowners, I couldn’t sleep a wink. I wasn’t too excited or anxious; nor was I too busy working through my mental to-do list which comes with a new home. No, I couldn’t sleep because our house is right in the middle of a busy railroad and a fire station and hospital and the police headquarters. All of those things were listed on our home’s description with the realtor, but it didn’t seem important at the time. I had no idea how noisy those four elements make our corner of the world!

The train whistle blows every three hours as it passes our house through the night. I know this because it always seemed to blow when I was just about to drift asleep. If I happened to not be awakened by the lonesome whistle, either an ambulance, policeman, or firefighter seemed to have an emergency to attend to right when I was about to fall asleep “for real.”

 I think I acknowledged every siren for those first 72 hours. And then, almost like magic, after those three days, I didn’t hear the whistles or sirens anymore. Sweet victory! I could finally sleep! My mind had adapted to its surroundings, and I could ignore everything except what I wanted to focus on.

 Even though my lack of acknowledgment felt nice, within those initial nights, I had learned to pray every time I heard an emergency vehicle’s siren or a train’s whistle. By adapting to the noise, I also lost my prompts to pray for the circumstances behind the noises. As I pondered that transition recently, I heard the Spirit whisper to my heart, “Sin is much the same way. The first times you slip away from Me, you acknowledge every moment. After a while, though, you stop caring, stop thinking about others, and only focus on yourself.”

 No matter how much you want to control your comfort, don’t silence the siren of God’s Word and the call to live like Christ.