I drive an old truck – a plain jane, no electric windows or locks, stick shift truck.

Recently, I had a problem with the battery cables coming loose every other day that required me to tighten the cable screws around the battery in order to get my truck started.

I finally got the cables fixed to where they wouldn’t come loose, but now my radio won’t work.  Since I haven’t yet figured out how to get the radio working again, I’ve been driving around without a radio to listen to.

Here’s what I’m learning about life without a car radio:

1. I need time for silence.  In our world, we are always surrounded by noise.  Studies have shown that constant noise has negative effects on our physical, mental, and emotional health.  It keeps us distracted and hinders our ability to connect deeply with our inmost being and innermost thoughts.  Worse yet, it keeps us from connecting deeply to God.  My drive time now gives me the silence that I’m not always disciplined enough to create, and I am experiencing more peace as a result.
2. I need time for prayer.  Without my radio, I mostly pass the time by praying.  I pray for my family, my church family, my community, and myself.  I pray for people I see on the sidewalks as I drive by.  I pray for my fellow commuters.  I pray for God to be with all of us, to make his presence known in our lives, and for us to wake up to his glory and greatness.
3. I need time to listen to God.  My prayer time in my truck also includes listening to God.  I sit in the quiet and I wait for God to bring to my mind people, ideas, and to-dos of which I need to be mindful.  And God always delivers!  I am constantly amazed at how he will put something or someone on my mind and heart that gives me the opportunity to partner with him in his Kingdom-work.
4. I need time to decompress from my day before I get home.  Instead of listening to heated debates on sports radio that keep me charged up, I drive home in peace, put the day behind me, and pray for God’s help to be fully present with my family when I get home.
5. I need time to think.  When we are always surrounded by noise, we seldom take the time to think deeply about our lives, our goals, and our plans.  Life without a car radio has given me the opportunity to think about these things; not only that, it has also supplied me with the motivation to turn those thoughts into action.

I hope you don’t have the mechanical problems I have experienced with my truck; however, I would suggest that you make it a habit to regularly turn off your car radio and drive in silence.  Because I have a hunch that you need a “quiet time” as much as I do.