Tag: faith

Posted in Living this Life

Friend of Silence

Posted on by Sara

I stood there stunned as I looked at my 8 year old with tears streaming down his face. We thought this would be fun – a fun reward for the many days they had spent on the road with us doing work stuff.

We had a couple hours free in the middle of a whirlwind trip recently, so we asked the kids what they wanted to do. The consensus was to find an arcade somewhere and have some fun.

arcade-300x225

And we did. We found the biggest, best arcade we could find. Not only was this arcade bigger and better than many we had been to, it was much, much louder. Like walking into a physical wall of noise. We had a lot of fun, yelled over the chaos as the kids engaged in a Rampage battle and my ‘80’s loving husband impressed us all with his Galaga skills. I leaned over and asked Joshua what he wanted to do next – well, I yelled at him “WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO NEXT?” And he responded by slapping his hands over his ears and bursting into tears.

We quickly found a quiet place to talk. He said “everyone keeps yelling and it’s so loud it hurts!”

I feel your pain, little man. Have you watched the news lately? Or tapped into any form of social media? It seems like everyone has something to say and no-one is listening anymore. So we all just seem to move faster and yell louder…

Caution_High_Noise_Area-1

hurry

Joshua said to me through his tears that day, “can’t you just talk quieter?” So I decided to try. As we went back into the arcade, in the middle of the ear-splitting din, I leaned in and whispered to him. I found that if I whispered right into his ear, he could hear me despite the noise, and I wouldn’t have to yell anymore.

And as a result, I discovered some beautiful things. He could hear me – and it didn’t hurt. My spirit quieted as I whispered through the chaos. And we had to draw close to each other to communicate.

How do you handle the noise? There are definitely days I want to slap my hands over my ears and find a quiet corner to cry in. But by that time, I usually have to make dinner or take a kid to some sports practice, so I kind of shove the feelings in and keep moving.

But what if we just stop? Stop yelling, and try whispering? Draw close to each other so we can hear the whispers from the hearts of those around us? Maybe even hear the whisper of our own hearts? We look for big, mighty things from God, and often get swept away in the wind, earthquake and fire that come before the still small voice of Jehovah. We shout over the wind, try to be the earth shakers, and pray for fire to burn up the evil, but God is not in those things.

“The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:11-13

Did you hear that? Elijah wrapped his face in his mantle at the still, small voice of Almighty God. In this world of sound bytes and Instagram likes, might the truest power lie in truth spoken gently from the Maker of our souls?

“I think there is nothing so startling in all the graces of God as His quietness. When men have raged untruths in His Name, when they have used the assumed authority of the Son of God to put to death His real children, when they have with calloused heart twisted the Scriptures into fables and lies… when they, using powers He grants them, claim universal autonomy and independence, He, this great silent God, says nothing! His tolerance and love for His creatures is such that, having spoken in Christ, in conscience, in code of law, He waits for men to leave off their bawling and turn for a moment to listen to His still, small voice of the Spirit.” – Jim Elliot

What a beautiful wonder those words awaken in my heart! What common sense goodness.

Do you find your heart reeling from the din of voices clamoring to be heard? Do you find your soul growing numb from the chaos that swirls around you?

Maybe rather than pushing away or trying to yell louder, we could try whispering back. Draw near, listen closely – not only to the words, but to the hearts, of those around us. Especially those we disagree with. Hear the fear that makes voices rise to a screech. Listen to the pain that causes those we share this planet with to build walls around their hearts. Draw close, and whisper gentle truth. You will find your own heart softening in the process. You may not agree, but you might understand. When you understand, you will learn to love the heart of the person, and maybe in that quiet place, Jesus will be heard.

Maybe we all just need to whisper a little more?

“We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence … we need silence to be able to touch souls” -Mother Teresa

 

 

Posted in Living this Life

What if?

Posted on by Sara

There was a time in my life when I could barely see past the darkness.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart…”

Every beautiful thing was covered in a shroud of fear of loss, living in the shadow of “what if?”

“…Test me and know my anxious thoughts…”

It’s sucked the joy, the peace, the life from my bones and left me hollow and trapped in a tomb of fear.

“…See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” Ps 139:23-24

I will never forget the moment my Jesus shone a bright light on it. So many times He comes in with ideas we may already know, but need to hear in a new way. It all started when my amazing husband bought me a devotional one Christmas.

That January, I picked up this little life changing book by Elisabeth Eliot and God started the work of unraveling the web the enemy of our souls had trapped me in. It was a many layered process and is a much longer story than this simple post can contain, but all good stories must start somewhere. This is my “somewhere”.

I recently stumbled across this book, dusty on a bookshelf. As I cracked open the pages and saw the exclamation I had written in the margins, the Lord brought me back to this moment – to so many of the moments He gently walked with me and showed me the way out – step by step.

I don’t know what Goliath you might be facing, my friend. What news has shaken your soul or what unknown lies beyond what you may see, but I find such peace in reminding my own spirit of a great God who is already there and has prepared a way.

So here are the words I read that day. I will leave them here without much commentary. The concept is simple, even obvious… but the truth was transformative for me. I pray it helps release your soul to peace as well.

“We are meddling with God’s business when we let all manner of imaginings loose, predicting disaster, contemplating possibilities instead of following, one day at a time, God’s plain and simple pathway. When we try to meet difficulties prematurely we have neither the light nor the strength for them yet. “As thy days so shall thy strength be” was Moses’ blessing for Asher – in other words, your strength will equal your days. God knows how to apportion each one’s strength according to that day’s need, however great or small. The psalmist understood this when he wrote, “Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure” (Ps. 16:5).

“What tomorrow’s cross I never seek to find. My Father says, ‘Leave that to Me, and keep a quiet mind’. (Anonymous)

I’ve been feeling a bit undone today.

rope-645x300

Let’s be honest – not just today. I’m not really sure when it started, but my spirit is feeling restless and crowded.

Sometimes life just sidles up and catches you off guard. The mornings filled with all the chaos and noise that accompanies homeschooling, the dishes that won’t stop getting dirty and the mountains of laundry to be folded. The work assignments that pile up and the messages that need to be answered. The play dates with friends … basketball for one kid, taekwondo for the other… the lineup of needs that call to you every time you think you’ll catch a minute for yourself.

I know the many details of your life are different than mine, but do you feel it with me? That out of breath feeling where you think the edges just might be fraying but you haven’t stopped to look long enough to find out? And honestly, maybe you’re a little scared to look too closely. Because if we don’t stop, maybe we won’t notice how we’re falling apart on the inside. That giving 100% of yourself doesn’t meet all the needs around you – and at the end of the day, there’s just not enough of you to go around?

I keep waiting for life to slow down so I can catch a glimpse of God – but through the noise I keep hearing Him say, “find me here”.

Find Him here? In all this mess and noise?

How do I quiet my soul in this loud world to hear God’s gentle whisper?

I was putting up a nativity in my bedroom the other night – and I found myself cradling the manger a little longer than normal. Like if I held on to that cold ceramic Jesus for a few extra minutes, He might warm my heart a bit.

Then, as I reached for the wise man to set him next to Jesus, I found myself holding my breath – it was like I was feeling an unexpected tinge of envy over the gift that magi was holding out to Jesus. I found my mouth uttering these words, “What do I have left for you Lord? What do I have to offer you here at the end of this day?”

And then these words come back to me from Oswald Chambers – “My personal life may be crowded with small petty incidents, altogether unnoticeable and mean (average); but if I obey Jesus Christ in the haphazard circumstances, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God, and when I stand face to face with God I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed… If I obey Jesus Christ, the Redemption of God will rush through me to other lives, because behind the deed of obedience is the Reality of Almighty God”

Pinholes through which I see the face of God!

shafts of light

sun shining through clouds

There it is! In that moment, as I saw a wise man holding out his gift in a little Nativity on my dresser tonight, I saw myself. My gift isn’t made of gold and doesn’t smell of Frankincense, but it holds the same value to Jesus. And as I plunge my hands into a sink full of dirty dishes, tackle that laundry mountain with renewed energy, or just simply let my heart wrap around this gift of mothering these 3 loud and wonderful children, I feel the hardness seep out of my heart as I let myself offer these gifts to God. My gift is obedience in this moment. My gift to Him is this moment.

Here in this moment, this tired spirit hears these words from Psalm 51, and I am renewed: “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.”

He doesn’t want all that I do, He wants all that I am. I know this – I have pleaded with others to believe it. And yet somehow I stumble into this lie that I just need to finish this next thing, and then I’ll have more time for Jesus. That if I can just get past this next deadline, this next week full of appointments and to do lists, then I will finally have time to rest and seek His face. That these mundane chores and interruptions are what’s keeping me from a deeper walk with Jesus – all while He’s waiting to meet me in the chores and through the interruptions.

“Peter walked on water to go to Jesus, but followed Him afar off on the land… it requires the supernatural grace of God to live 24 hours in every day as a saint, to go through drudgery as a disciple, to live an ordinary, unobserved, ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is inbred in us that we have to do exceptional things for God; but we have not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things, to be holy in mean streets, among mean people, and this is not learned in five minutes” – Oswald Chambers

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” 2 Corinthians 4:7

Lord, help me – help us all – find You here in this place. Right here where we are. And may we gaze up the shafts of our moments of obedience to find your face!

Undone