The Secret to Sanity When Life is Crazy

Stories of Hope in Hard Times

How do we battle a World full of crazy commotion? What do you do when you need answers, peace or stillness? This one secret will help.

What is the secret? How do people do it?

The Story of Elijah

Well, I’m going to take us back to a story in the Old Testament about the prophet Elijah and see if we can learn an important principle.

Do you remember Elijah? He is the one who had the competition with the prophets of Baal to see whose God was the true God by asking them to have their God bring down fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice. And Elijah’s God did. He burned the sacrifice and the people fell on their knees. But wicked queen Jezebel was mad that Elijah killed the prophets of Baal and sought his life.

So, he fled to the wilderness, and begged God to die—Talk about commotion and probably what felt like the whole world coming after you.

God strengthened him by an angel and then invited him to come to a mountain to talk to Him.

Elijah did. He went to the mountain and hung out in a cave where he told the Lord everything going on in his life and how he felt:

—I have done what I was supposed to

—I am alone

—they are trying to kill me

Then God tells him to go stand on the mountain before God and this is what happened:

1 Kings 19: 10-11

And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

When Elijah heard the still, small voice of God communicating with Him, God told him exactly what he needed to do to solve his problems. And He did.

When Life is in Commotion

1. Find a Quiet Place where we can Be Still

2. Expect Commotion will find you--Don’t be discouraged if when you are trying to be quiet you are interrupted—wind, earthquake or fire

3. Persist in trying to be still and inviting God to be with you and He will answer you like he Did Elijah

How We Apply the Secret of Stillness

Remember the story of Julianne, when the world fell apart for her—she found a quiet place in the cupboard under her stairs which she called her “Harry Potter Room.” There she communed with God. There He taught her of her worth and what she should do to solve the myriad of problems she was dealing with.

I too have felt like hit the accelerator. and I too have found places of stillness—but it hasn’t been the same place. Sometimes my place of stillness is in my car. Other times my car is way too noisy with kids

Lately one of my still places is walking. I used to walk with my headphones on listening to audiobooks or talks. But lately, I have craved more stillness and I left the headphones at home and spend my walks talking to God.

I have also found stillness waking up before everyone else and sitting on my back lawn or in my office.

My point is—you can find stillness in many places—from the cupboard under your stairs, to mountains, to offices. God will meet you in your stillness and commune with you as you invite Him to be a part of your life.

Just this week I was wondering how I could help my daughter with a challenge. I had talked to God about it and kept pondering what was the right solution. Then this morning, while I was walking—a solution just popped into my head. To me, that is God speaking. But would that solution have come if I had earbuds in and was listening to something else? Probably not.

I believe God is trying to communicate with us often, the question is, are we still enough to listen?

As He invites in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Invitation

So my invitation to you today is to invite stillness into your life? Will you do it? How will you do it? Will you be brave enough to unplug on a walk? Will you pause and not scroll mindlessly through social media? Will you pray more? Read your scriptures more?

What changes do you need to make to invite stillness into your life? Whatever it is. Ask God to help you. He wants that connection with you.

“Commotion in the world will continue to increase. . . in order to hear [God’s] still voice, you too must be still! . . . We can use our time to hear the voice of the Lord whispering His guidance, comfort, and peace. Quiet time is sacred time—time that will facilitate personal revelation and instill peace.” —Russell M. Nelson

So, if you are looking for peace amid life’s crazy commotion, find and MAKE places where you can BE STILL.

I promise God will meet, comfort and strengthen you in your stillness.

Hope on!

#tamarakanderson #storiesofhopeinhardtimes #podcast #hope #God #hardtimes #commotion #crazylife #answers #stillness #secret #feelpeace #peace #Biblestory #JulianneDonaldson

Transcription

You can find the transcription of today's episode here: https://www.tamarakanderson.com/podcasts/the-secret-to-sanity-when-life-is-crazy