I don’t know if it is my age or just the times we live in, but it seems that I cannot fall asleep anymore without noise.  Not the kind of noise that drones on from a TV screen, but white noise - a fan, the ambient sound of falling rain, waves lapping on the shore… It’s crazy, isn’t?  We need noise to cancel out the frequencies around us that distract and interrupt our peace. 

It is not just when we are trying to rest.  We are constantly bombarded by so many things.  Banter, advertisements, viruses… We are accosted, really, seeming unconvinced that we have the ability to think and process for ourselves what we believe, what we should do, how we should live.  

We’ve learned well how to speak in generalities about our faith, our politics, our interests… We white wash our identities to fit in and be liked.  And yet, we are thought uncaring or unaccepting when we don’t acquiesce to others who believe so far differently than us, that we are nearly shamed for our own principals. 

I’m so over it. 

I believe it was Bob Dylan who said “You’ve gotta stand for something, or you’ll fall for anything.”  Exactly.

God is the rock on which I stand.  In the midst of chaos and storms, in the whirling, mind numbing drumbeat of this world where fear and evil reign, I ground myself in knowing that He is in control.  I surrender to no one but Him.

How about you?  Are you weary?  Do your head and heart feel heavy from the constraints of having to pretend that you are “okay” with things that are definitely not?  Are you afraid to trust that better days are coming?

They are.

God’s promises are real.  In His Word, He warns us to keep our feet upon the path of faith — of doing what is right, of seeking His ways.  The world taunts us to do as it does, tempting us to live as it lives.  The life of Anything Goes leads us farther from Him and from each other, until we no longer recognize ourselves.  We are not in Kansas anymore.  We are lost. 

We need His voice to cancel out the enemy.

Can you hear it?

There is a rumbling that comes like a whisper, beckoning us to Believe.  We can fast for a while from the news, from Pop culture, from social media — from friends who entertain us but do not add substantially to our spirits.  We need to take a sabbatical from listening to the static around us that occupies our heads and deflects us from truly hearing what our hearts are yearning for.

Peace. Reconciliation. Restoration. 

We have not because we ask not… And we are listening to the wrong things. 

I believe that we are in the midst of an Awakening.  The one thing I know for sure, is that God always has His way.  He always wins.  He lets us do our thing — to be distracted by things and people and nonsense that corrupt our minds and thinking so that we get off course.   In our nation, in our families, in our work… We are called to righteousness.  We are called to hear His voice and follow His ways. 

It is in Him that we find true peace and rest.  

Turn off the noise of the world that wants to render you like sheep — that wants you to follow and believe it's lies and celebrate sin. It’s sole purpose is to get you to relinquish your faith.  To stop believing that He can hear your prayers and that He is moving on your behalf. That He knows you and what you are going through, and that He has a plan even when you cannot yet see how He is working it out.

Listen deeply.  Stand in your truth.  He is calling you to believe that He knows what is best and it is always good. 

You already know what is true. 

Cut out the noise and get some sleep.