Chippie the Parakeet was caught by surprise! One moment he was peacefully sitting on his perch. The next thing was a ‘whoosh’ sound and him being sucked up into the vacuum cleaner. The bird’s owner turned off the vacuum and opened the bag. There was Chippie - still alive, just slightly dazed.
As a result of this experience Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore. Sometimes we too get sucked in, blown about and stressed and it’s enough to steal any song we may try to sing. Maybe you can relate to this. I dare say many of us can. The doctor calls... we rush the kids off to one event or another.... the demands of your job... feelings of stressed and being overwhelmed. It leaves us with fear, a long list of questions and slightly dazed.
Now, when Jesus walked this earth, he met many people who felt exactly like you and I do sometimes. And what we learn from Jesus' earthly walk is that one of His purposes for coming to this earth was to help us to slow down and to calm our fears.
The same voice that stilled the raging Sea of Galilee is the same voice that can still your frenzied, rushing, overwhelmed, too-many-things-to-do kind of life. And the good news that goes along with this calming work of Jesus is that He is very close to you and your situation. Psalm 145:18 says. “The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.”
God wants to hear from you when you are stuck in the middle of those details that leave your mind spinning. Why? Because He has the answer to your overwhelmed life.... it’s His grace. God answers the messes of our lives with that one word. God once said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.” Sounds like a good deal to me. God calls us to deal with the details of life, and then He gives us the power to pull it off. He offers us His grace.
The thing is, we need to make it a point to slow down so that we can hear God’s voice. Yes, God does speak to those who will take the time to listen. But be careful, there are a lot of voices out there these days, all asking for your attention.
But the mark of someone who comes to know God personally is that they have the ability to hear His voice. You may say, “I’m listening for God’s voice, but I don’t hear anything.” Maybe the problem is that you have too many other things going on that leave you living a frenzied kind of life.
We need to simply ask, “God, help me to slow down so that I can hear your voice.” Here’s something important... there is never a time when Jesus is not speaking. So listen for His voice. Extend the little faith you have in His direction. All God wants from you is your faith. You may say, “well, my faith is pretty small these days.” That’s OK, just give God what you have and let Him take it from there.
Today, why not once and for all, say enough to the frenzy! Jesus says when we come to Him with our messed up and sometimes frenzied lives, He promises to give us rest. And isn’t that what you want right now? You might be able to identify with Chippie, but you don’t have to go on living that way. Let grace happen. Ask Jesus to calm your storm. He promises He will if you will come to Him with the faith you have, no matter how small.
This column is submitted by the Tri-Community Baptist Church in Beiseker.
