The art of being quiet

by Caleb Moore | Sep 11, 2019

I’m guilty of it, and you likely are as well.

As soon as there is a lull in the day, a brief moment of waiting, you reach into your pocket or purse and grab your phone. You don’t need to make a call, and you just checked your email five minutes ago, but for some reason you just have to pull it back out and scroll through endless post on your favorite social media sites.

You are not looking for something; you’re just looking at something. Our eyes gloss over with a zombie like stare as we just scroll, scroll and scroll down again.

It’s instinctual now. If there is a red light or an elevator ride, we look at our phones. I’m not writing this to tell you to stop; I’m writing this to remind myself of what is more valuable than time spent on my phone.

People don’t give up bad habits unless it is replaced with a better habit, and I think the story of Elijah gives us a hint at the better habit.

Elijah spent a lot of time by himself—three years to be exact—just waiting for God to do something.  After his time of waiting was up, God took him to Mount Sinai and hides him in a cave.

Elijah feels an earthquake, mighty winds and fire, but we are told after each event that God was not in the noise. No, He was to be found in the soft whisper or, as it literally translates, the thin silence.

As I read that, I wondered “What does thin silence sound like?” Even simpler, I wonder what just regular silence sounds like.

I live a mile from some train tracks, and you can hear them run all night long. The first night I slept in that house I was afraid that I had made a big mistake as I lay awake all night long. However, it only took a few days before I slept like a baby, regardless of the amount of noise. Noise, it turns out, is very easy to get used to.

Although I can adjust to a noisy room rather quickly, I find it much more difficult to adjust to silence. Turns out, I’m addicted to the noise, and you might be as well.

Noise is our universal cultural language at the moment. We live hurried and noisy lives, and as soon as it’s quiet, we turn on the radio, TV or just stare at our phones. So what is better than noise? It’s not just silence; it is God in the silence.

God tells Elijah that HE is in the soft whisper, and if that is a place where I can hear God then that is what I want. I’m not saying we all start to meditate for hours a day; it’s much simpler than that. I just want to hear from my Heavenly Father. I want to visit with my dad. My dad has always told me that love is spelled T-I-M-E.

You whisper when someone is really close to you. That’s why God whispered to Elijah—to let him know that He was standing right beside him. Elijah was not alone, and neither are you. God stands right next to you.

I pray that you begin to develop a desire to have less noise in your life and find moments where you can just be aware that God, the Creator, is close enough to whisper to you.

Miles Away: Trusting Jesus with Your Adult Child

by Angela Sanders | Sep 10, 2019

For so much of our children’s lives, we are the conduits through which God works, protecting, guiding, comforting, and teaching our children even as the Holy Spirit draws them toward repentance and salvation. 

It’s a big job—a scary one at times—but it’s also a comfort to see and know in real time what God is doing and to understand, at least to some degree, what He’s working to accomplish at each age and stage of your children’s lives. 

There is fulfillment, too, in knowing that even when you can’t prevent hardship or heartache, you can be there to soothe, teach, and send them back out, the Father’s hand almost visible in theirs as a result of the prayers you’ve prayed in earnest and the faith you’ve extended in response to Who you know God to be and what you believe He can do.   

Then they leave. 

No longer mere minutes away, your children do most of their living and breathing and choosing beyond your field of vision, beyond your reach, making their own way in a world where the Enemy prowls, seeking to destroy them (1 Pet. 5:8).

It’s a helpless feeling—at least, it can be—one with which the royal official mentioned in John 4 was, no doubt, familiar. Separated from his critically ill son by more than a day’s journey, he did the only thing he could do for the son he loved from that distance.  He begged Jesus to intervene, to breathe life into his child.

And Jesus did. 

Of course, the official didn’t have any tangible proof of this in the moment—thank you, Lord, for smart phones and FaceTime—but he took Jesus at His word and began the long journey home, every step an exercise in patience, every thought a battle against doubt, every mile an obstacle to overcome before his faith would become sight. 

Can you imagine the agony? 

If you have grown children, my guess is yes.

Listen, I know, no matter how many prayers for protection I pray, my children are going to experience difficult things in life—Jesus promised as much (John 16:33)—and I don’t begrudge God the opportunity to glorify Himself through my children in whatever way He deems necessary.  I truly don’t.

How could I when He didn’t begrudge us His own Son? 

All I ask—I beg—is that God complete in my children what He began when they confessed their need for a Savior and surrendered their lives to His Lordship, keeping their faith strong to the end, for their good and His ultimate glory. 

Jesus will do it, of course.  He promised as much (John 6:37-40), but I’ve a long journey ahead as a parent, every step an exercise in patience, every thought a battle against doubt, every mile an obstacle to overcome before my faith becomes sight.

It can be excruciating.  

Even so, I will trust Him, not only because I really have no other choice—His being omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, and sovereign, things I most definitely am not—but also because I, like the royal official, believe God is faithful (1 Cor. 1:8-9).

That’s why we go to Him in the first place, isn’t it?

From Gay to Gospel: The Story Inside the Story

by Ryan Smith | Aug 29, 2019

Never doubt the value of the little things in God’s economy. Your small act of daily obedience may be the turning point in someone’s life.

By now you may have read this article from The Gospel Coalition regarding Becket Cook.

Ten years ago, having earned a glowing high-profile reputation as a set designer in the fashion industry, Cook was among the Hollywood elite. His work took him around the globe, placed him in prestigious magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and earned him an invitation to parties hosted by Hollywood royalty.

However, Cook, a gay man engaged in an active homosexual lifestyle, became disenchanted with the peak of fame, fortune, sexuality and fashion. Unsatisfied, he began to wonder if there was more to life.

The article recounts Cook’s experience of being introduced to the church through a small group of believers who were reading their Bibles at a coffee shop.

Having assumed God was “off the table” for him as a gay man, Becket was alarmed to find hope in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as presented unashamedly from the Word of God. He threw himself into sermons, Bible-centered instruction and personal discipleship in the local church.

The article explores in detail how the LGBTQ movement has created a driving narrative in Western culture and how stories like Becket’s fit within that unfolding narrative. There is much to gain from the article, and Cook’s story is told compellingly with great truth, compassion and candidness.

The article makes a splash in many ways because it’s about Hollywood, LA, fashion, homosexuality, fame and a “Road to Damascus” experience for a man amidst a cultural firestorm.

But there’s a quiet story inside this story.

What God used in such an extraordinary account is something we might consider to be extraordinarily ordinary.

While God was doing a great work in the heart of fashion icon Becket Cook, God had also established regular rhythms for a small group of young believers. When they took their Bibles to the LA coffee shop that day, they likely expected nothing more than good coffee, quiet atmosphere and another regular day of reading the Scriptures.

Likely none of the young adults engaged in their Bible reading that day thought they were doing something of momentous cultural and spiritual significance. Some, like myself, may have felt somewhat shy at opening up God’s Word in such a public setting – not wanting to appear pretentious or “preachy.”

But in the hands of a Sovereign God, small things matter.

Had those young adults known they were going to engage in a conversation about biblical sexual ethics, they might have felt ill-equipped. Had they known Cook was a famous Hollywood set designer and active member of the gay community, they may have been tempted to sit in a different area discreetly – or even capitulate to the cultural tides when asked about homosexuality instead of standing firm on biblical convictions.

But they didn’t. They read their Bibles, were available for questions and invited someone to church.

Do you ever consider how regular, monotonous obedience might be used in the hands of a Sovereign God?

While the article, “From Gay to Gospel” is a great story of God’s work in the life of a cultural elite, it is also quietly a story about unremarkable faithfulness to God being used by God for His glory.

This amazing story of redemption, fame and sex is just as much a story about small obedience.

Never doubt the value of the little things in God’s economy. Your small act of daily obedience may be the turning point in someone’s life. It may be the beginning of a great conversation about the Gospel in the LGBTQ community. Or it may be another day of reading the Scripture over a tall latte that seems insignificant and habitual.

Either way, read your Bible. Be available. Invite someone to church. You never know what God might do.

My enemy has a name

by Aaron Hanzel | Aug 26, 2019

The first time I was crippled by anxiety was a couple years ago. I had prepared a lesson to teach at my church for the young adults Sunday School class. As I was about to enter the room, I stopped and looked through the open door at all the faces of the Sunday morning crowd. A thought creeped into my mind: “What if you mess up?”

Suddenly, the thought became a reality, which formed into an environment that asked more questions.

What if you look like an idiot? Everyone would see it.

What if they notice how strange you are and reject you?

What if you have no value? You will waste their time.

What happens when they see that you’ve been fooling them all along and they realize that you’re worthless? Then, you’ll be alone forever. No one cares about you.

This sequence of thoughts, emotional responses and worry-building occurred in about three seconds. My mind was working in overdrive, and it became a run-away train of destruction. My heart was pounding through my chest. My hands were shaking uncontrollably. I suddenly felt the eyes of everyone in the room peering into my soul, and they felt were superior to me. 

You may look at these thoughts and say to yourself, “This is silly. None of those things would actually happen.” You’re probably right. You may say, “You just need to calm down and focus on the positive.” That would have been helpful too. But in that moment, I was a slave to something that bound my logic and casted it into a pit that I couldn’t find. In that moment, terror overcame me, and I was no longer in control.

Later, I chocked it up to nerves. I told myself that it had been years since I spoke in front of a crowd, and I was just too shaken up. I didn’t prepare well enough, and that’s why I was so nervous. I struggled through that morning and decided to avoid teaching for a month or two.

I eventually got back in the saddle, and everything was fine. I’ve been teaching in my Sunday School consistently ever since. I still get nervous, but nothing like what I had experienced before.

The years have passed since that instance, and the Lord has taught me so much about His character, His will, the value of Scripture, the body of the church and how to cultivate a heart for others. Through all this growth, told myself, “The Lord has filled me up with joy. What could possibly happen to me that could diminish that joy?” This false sense of security would soon change.

A week or so ago, I walked into work and was immediately handed a storm of chaos. The pressure built up, and I handled it calmly. Afterward, I was personally attacked and told that I wasn’t handling the chaos well, and I should have done a better job communicating those things. Suddenly it all rushed back.

My world narrowed to a tunnel-vision and a fog of terror shrouded my every thought. I gripped the wall in desperation, and my heart was beating so fast. I thought I was having an allergic reaction to something. Like watching a computer boot up and run a thousand apps simultaneously, my sight flooded with a familiar line of questions…

What if? It was as if my consciousness sank back into a dark room and just watched helpless as questions fed into questions all themed with the ultimate reality, “What if everyone leaves me, and I am alone?”

I didn’t know how to stop it. I thought, “Computers have a restart button, so maybe I should try to clear my mind in a similar way. Think of something good,” I told myself. “You’re not in control! Get it together!” My attempts were useless. For every positive thought, my mind created 50 opposing arguments, each with bullet points of evidence for their truth. I thought it would last forever.

Then slowly, the shouts of my mind died down, like they were sinking into the darkness, and I had regained control. Distance grew between the thoughts and my mind as I heard them shouting from afar, and the fog lifted. Later my smart watch would show that my heart rate went from 65bpm to nearly double that and lasted for three minutes. It felt like an eternity.

Days went by, and my world had narrowed to the constant concern of “What if it happens again?” I avoided crowds. Paralyzed in anticipation, I forced myself to go hangout with groups of friends and believed it would pass.

I asked close friends for prayers and advice. I begged the Lord, “Please, I can’t control this. What is causing this?” I stayed up late thinking and worrying “What is the root? How do I stop this from happening again? Am I just broken and need a counselor?” I looked through my health insurance to see if I was covered to see a therapist. A couple of times I even stopped what I was doing and just wept in tears of helplessness.

One recent morning, I was working on my computer at work, and something happened. My mind had been weighed down in sorrowful anguish ever since that day. Suddenly, I heard a voice speak a single word through the pain, “fear.”

My eyes lifted from my screen, and it was as if this weight I had been carrying around, melted into the floor under my feet. I wasn’t reading an article or researching exercises to combat anxiety. I wasn’t meditating or working out. I wasn’t sitting in a room and asking for professional advice. I wasn’t doing anything that merited success.

The voice was calm and quiet. It did not boom like thunder or have a distinguishing affliction in its tone. It was gentle and confident all at the same time. “Fear,” the voice said and suddenly it all made sense. I was afraid. Fear told me, “You’re not good enough.” It said, “What if everybody sees you’re worthless?” If fear was the question that became the fire burning in my heart, the gasoline dumped onto the flames was also fear. It was a self-compounding reaction that would not, and could not, be smothered. That is, until it had a name.

Fear is what I was fearful of; “Fear” was the name of my enemy. There are three powerful things that the Lord has taught me about my enemy.

Fear is the absence of truth. I had asked myself “What if I end up alone?” This is how Satan operates, he asks these questions. If I hold fast to the truth of God’s word, fear is relinquished.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1).

God knows the answers to the questions of anxiety. The Creator and Sustainer of your every breath knows the answers. He knows them, and He’s in control of their result. I can have confidence in my every moment because I know my Father loves me and has been working in my life even before I was born.

“Because You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will You let Your faithful one see decay” (Ps. 16:10).

“For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Ps. 139:13).

I did nothing to earn freedom from the pain. This is the most important lesson that I want to communicate to you, dear reader. Much like the powerful truth of the Gospel, we did nothing to earn righteousness, so we also must understand that true freedom from fear only comes through the loving-grace of God.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:4-9).

There are many helpful avenues of resources to fight fear. But none extinguishes those flames like being wrapped up in a divine love from a Creator that hates fear more than I ever could. I testify with these words that I desire that freedom in Christ more than a thousand momentary victories in a world riddled with a thousand excuses not to. I leave you with these passages of truth from God, Who knows the answers to all your questions of anxiety and fear.

“I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (1 John 4:18).

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7).

“But now, this is what the Lord says…Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine” (Isa. 43:1).