Turn down the noise
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”” Psalms 46:10
WARNING. Today is raw. Life has heated up, and this writing may be a bit unfiltered. In the past two years we have had so much chaos. I can list the top hitters…..Started with COVID, our son losing a best friend and his family to a homicide/suicide, having a falling out with our daughter, selling a house I thought was a forever home, losing a youth pastor that was supposed to be there for our son through his senior year (that was #2 youth pastor lost), having to close down a business, moving to a new town, a wedding, financial challenges we didn’t see coming, building projects soured through the challenges of HOA, irrational people and COVID, the daily pain of having an estranged daughter and granddaughter going on 2 years now, loss of my husband’s dad…..the last parent, mid life crisis management as we became empty nesters, family that grew distant through the season — let’s admit when life gets hard…people flee. Just saying. Most recently both our youngest had COVID and were very sick, and then our daughter had a miscarriage. Ugh. I have spent most days wondering if our marriage can sustain it all, and if our younger three adult kids can dig deep enough to rise above what seems to never stop grief filled circumstances. Unfortunately , this week….we got some icing on the cake! It always seems to come out of left field. When a stranger comes to your door and tells you one of your kids is in spiritual danger, and spouts off crazy words and scriptures and thus says the Lords at 9pm….what is going on?! This life is not letting up! Weird! What was THAT?!
I heard very clearly after getting over the shock of this past week…I have to turn down the noise. One of my husband’s life friends told him that last year as we were navigating through a season of turmoil. “Turn down the noise.” I realized I have so many things coming at me all the time, and I have to shut what I can down to remove all the stuff that is causing me stress. So….. I left all group chats- except my kids. That seemed to be the biggest interruption. What else?! Spam texts, Emails, constant phone notifications, tv options that never end, podcasts, others opinions, social media (even though I do hardly ever). Then….there’s all the digital communication for work purposes! It’s all TOO much! ENOUGH! STOP! I now sit in silence, spending time with God to just hear him and seek His face in this time of need. He has something to say. I need to listen. Do you? I need to purpose to look at what is good right now and cling to that and hold on to Hope that it all will get better! I can read Ps 46:10 and get quiet, be still, pray and recognize that God is God and I am not, and he will carry us through.
What are you going through? What do you fill your ears with and your life with all the time, keeping your stress levels at a place that is unnecessary? Do you even recognize the stress and what is adding to it? Do you need to turn down the noise?
Father help me sit quietly so I can hear you. Help me manage my time well with you and the people I love. Help me to remember to turn down the noise when I need so that I can hear you. Amen.
Illustrations by Haley Harmening
Edited by Rachel Harmening