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from Cossondra I loved playing outside when I was young. Living in a rural area, I was able to explore forests and pastures, creeks, and dry gullies. One of the fascinating things I found during the summer was what we called locust shells. These creepy-looking exoskeletons are left when cicadas, not locusts, are ready to fly away and lay eggs. The shells are an opaque light brown and can be found attached to trees, houses, and anything that is still for a while. When the cicada is ready to fly, the shell splits down the back, and the cicada emerges, allows its wings to strengthen for about an hour, and flies away.
You may never see an actual cicada. It is far more likely that you could find an empty shell. But, if you don't see either, I hope you can enjoy their music. To me, it is much more beautiful than the shells they leave behind. I love to hear cicadas sing. While cricket music is more like an intermittent chirp, cicadas buzz loudly and continually. To some, it is annoying. to me, it is THE sound of summer, of peace, of a safe place.
Sounds are so important. A soft melody can put us at ease, and a siren can warn us of danger. When having a conversation, we can recognize voices, tone of voice, and dialects. God used sounds a great deal in the Bible.
PowerSuddenly there came from the sky a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. Acts 2:2
PromiseElijah said to Ahab, "Get up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain." 1 Kings 18:41 VictorySo the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets. It happened, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. Joshua 6:20 Yes, sounds serve different purposes. But they are only part of a process. The sound of power came after the apostles had prayed and waited for weeks for the Holy Spirit to come. The sound of rain came after Elijah called fire from the sky to accept his offering to God. But it didn't rain immediately. Elijah still had to bow himself and pray, sending his servant to look for clouds in a barren sky seven times.
The shouting of the Israelites was probably terrifying to the inhabitants of Jericho, primarily because these people had marched around silently for a week. They had made no sound, no indication of what they were about. But when they raised a shout and blasted their horns for victory, the walls began to tremble and eventually cracked and fell away. All of these sounds were significant but were only part of a process. That may be where you are today, in a process. It would be simple if we could just immediately ask for power, a promise, or a breakthrough, but it quite often doesn't work that way. The Book of Isaiah says that God has different thoughts and ways than we do (55:8,9). None of us can offer turn-by-turn directions to Discovery City. And often, we feel lost, discouraged, and even defeated. But I encourage you to hang on. Grab onto a sound and turn it into a lifeline.
Listen for a still, small voice that is the Lord's (1 Kings 19:11-13). Listen for peace (Isaiah 26:3). Listen for direction (Jeremiah 33:3). And, if all still seems quiet, listen to waves, or laughter, or music while you are pausing. And the next time you are out on a porch or in a yard, I hope you hear cicadas. Close your eyes and remember that the songs they are singing on this side of their process are much more beautiful than the shells of themselves that have been left behind.
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