Can you hear that voice over the angry birds?

So I have had a "smart" phone for a long time now. What do I use it for??? I make phone calls and text. Yes I can do that with a regular phone but I wanted to have GPS (cause I get lost all the time!) Then I decided it would be nice to be able to receive my emails on my phone. Then I discovered games that I can play. Today I realized I could use the google RSS feeder on my phone to keep up with some blogs, and a radio program I like to listen to. The possibilities are endless. I found a way to text but instead of texting using my thumbs I speak into the phone and it puts it all down in a text for me. Kinda crazy!!! I can buy things on ebay with my phone, shop on amazon, order food, and even tell what star I am looking at just by pointing the camera at the sky.

So all of this got me thinking. How often do you see children with a phone some as young as 3 years old playing games, listening to music, and watching videos. What are we being conditioned to? Many many young adults now have no idea what it is like to sit and do nothing. I just read a post by someone who while waiting for jury duty was watching a movie on his phone. How many people in todays society can just sit and do nothing? Old men used to sit on porches and just watch the clouds roll by. In 50 years what are the old men going to be doing? Porch chairs and swings will no longer exist.

I am reminded of the bible verse "be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10a (I looked up the reference by talking into my phone and it gave me the location of the verse.) In order to hear God we must be still and quiet. I know for me God does not yell at me. It is a small quiet voice. If I am busy and forget to listen I do not hear it. Are we training our children to be still and quiet before the Lord? One of my children asked me the other day why I hear God and she doesn't. I had to explain to her that if she is always talking she can not hear what is being said. Same thing goes for the small quiet voice.

These "smart" phones have made life much easier and convenient. But they have their place. Maybe the battery life wouldn't be so short if we didn't use them for everything and depend on them every moment of our lives. We also need to remember to be still and quiet before the Lord, and to train our children to do the same.