The Secret to Sanity When Life is Crazy

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:0:03

How's your summer going? Is your life so busy? Has like seem to push the accelerator pedal and you just feel like you're careening out of control? I don't know about you, but I certainly felt that way. So the question I'm going to tackle the day is how do we battle a world that seems full of craziness and commotion? What is the secret to sanity when life is so crazy? I've got an answer for you. Stay tuned.

0:41

Welcome to Stories of Hope in Hard Times, the show that explores how people endure and even thrive in difficult times. All with God's help. I'm your host Tamara K. Anderson. Join me on a journey to find inspiring stories of hope and wisdom learned in life's hardest moments.

1:06

Hello, and welcome to another episode of Stories of Hope in Hard Times podcast. I'm your host Tamara K Anderson. And on today's episode, we are going to talk about the secret of sanity when life is absolutely going crazy. How does that sound? I know you're probably Alright, Tamra, give it to me straight here.

1:27

So last week, we had on author Julianne Donaldson who told us about her life. And when it started falling apart, how she doubted her worth, and how she felt like she was only good for helping others. And life was just going crazy. So in the middle of a challenging divorce, she shared a very important lesson that I kind of want to dive into a little bit and explore today. Because I believe Julianne and Tamra aren't the only ones going crazy. That life since the pandemic has started easing restrictions has gotten more and more busy. And more and more crazy and back to normal. So what do we do? Life is busy life is crazy. It's noisy. How do we find peace? How do we sort through the crazy?

2:19

So I'm going to go back and take you to Luke chapter 21, verse nine, when Jesus was talking to his disciples about the destruction of Jerusalem and the last days, and one of the things that He said was interesting, because it applies to us today. He said, "but when you shall hear of wars, and commotions be not terrified for these things must come to pass." And then he talks about earthquakes and famines and pestilences fearful sights and signs, persecutions--craziness, right? So is life crazy for you right now? The answer is yes. Jesus gives us the answer. Don't be terrified these things are going to happen. But how do you stop and find peace within the crazy? Is there a way to slow it down? Can you get off the crazy Carousel of life before it starts spinning out of control? What is the secret? How do people do it?

3:25

I'm going to take you back to a story in the Old Testament that I think really gives us the insight that we're looking for here. Now this is part of the story of a prophet named Elijah. Do you remember who Elijah was? He's the one that had that big competition between the priests of Baal, and him to see who could get their god to light their altar on fire and burn their sacrifice. And needless to say, the priests of Baal no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't get their god to light their sacrifice on fire. Elijah called down fire from heaven. And his God's fire consumed His sacrifice. And the people fell to their knees, they realized that Elijah's God was the true God in Israel. And he had them round up the priests of Baal, and he took care of them.

4:18

But the problem was that they had a wicked Queen named Jezebel at the time, and she was mad that Elijah had killed the wicked prophets of Baal. And she sought his life. And so Elijah is on the run. Now, life is crazy. He's trying to do what God asks him to do. But things are just seeming to go from bad to worse. And Elijah fled to the wilderness and he asked God, he said, Just let me die. This is just too hard.

4:48

And sometimes we feel like that when life gets crazy, we're like, it is too hard. I don't want to go on anymore, just like Elijah. But an angel came and strengthened him and invited him to go to Mount Horeb, to come and talk to God, and Elijah had faith, and he did. He went to the mountain and he hung out in a cave, where he told God everything that was going on in his life. And how he felt that he had done what God had asked him to do, he felt very alone. And the results were that Queen Jezebel was trying to kill him. And then God tells him to go and stand on the mountain. And there he is hit with wind, earthquake, and fire. And finally, a still small voice. And that is a beautiful thing.

5:41

Let me read that part to you really quick. This is found in 1 Kings, chapter 19. And I'm going to read you verses 11 and 12. "And he said, Go forth and stand upon the mountain before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind, rent the mountains and break 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 an earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still small voice." And then Elijah talks to God and God gives him the answers that he needs. He tells him what he's supposed to go and do. And Elijah goes, and does what God has commanded him.

6:30

So you're probably wondering, Tamra, how in the world does this crazy story about Elijah apply to me? And that is what I'm going to teach you really quick right now. When life is crazy and in commotion, find a quiet place where you can be still. And what I love about the story of Elijah is when he was going and trying to communicate with God and find this quiet place, that he was hit with an earthquake with wind with fire. So don't be discouraged or surprised if when you're trying to find a still place or a quiet place to commune with God. If you're hit with distractions, it always happens. Just know you're not alone if you're trying and having a hard time.

7:17

The key part here that I want you to learn is to persist. Because Elijah persisted through the wind, through the earthquake, through the fire. And finally, he was able to converse with God. So persist through the crazy. Find your quiet place and communicate with God and He will answer you.

7:17

Now if we go back to the story that Julianne shared last week, when her world began to fall apart, she found a quiet place in the cupboard under her stairs. Remember, she called it her Harry Potter room. And that was where she communed with God and that is where He taught her of her worth, and what she should do to solve the myriad of problems that she was facing.

8:06

I too, have felt like life has hit the accelerator, and I've had to find places of stillness in my life. I feel like I'm craving it more than I used to. And sometimes my place of stillness is in my car. Other times my car is way noisy. And I don't think I could hear anything if God was yelling it at me.

8:30

One of the places I've also been finding stillness lately is I wake up early, and I go outside, and I sit on my lawn, and I talk to God, and I read my scriptures. And that has become a place of stillness for me. Another place that I've found stillness lately is walking. And I like to go on daily walks. And I used to always have an audio book, plugged into my headphones, when I would walk, and I would listen to that it was kind of my, let me get away for a few minutes, type thing. And, and lately, I think I've needed more answers, I needed more help. I've craved more stillness with all the commotion going on in my life. And so I've just felt prompted to take those earbuds out and to talk to God during my walks.

9:24

And I've been doing that. And it's been interesting that, for example, just this last week, I was talking to God about a challenge that my daughter was facing, and what should I do to help her with this? And He didn't answer me right away. But as I was on my walk this morning, all of a sudden, an idea totally popped into my head. I'm like, that's what I should do. And that was God's answer, because I was being still. I don't think I would have gotten the answer if I was listening to my audio book on my walk this morning.

9:57

And so one of the keys is--you can find stillness, and peace, whether it be in a cupboard, under the stairs, in the mountains in your office, God is going to meet you and your stillness and commune with you, as you invite Him to be part of your life. I believe that God is trying to communicate with us often. The question really is, are we still enough to listen? And that's important, so I'm going to say it again.

10:30

God is trying to communicate with us often, the question is, are we still enough to listen? As he invites us in Psalm 4610. "Be still and know that I am God." So my invitation to you is to invite stillness into your life.

10:55

Do you crave it? Do you want it? What will you do? How will you do it? Will you be brave enough to maybe unplug from your headphones as you go on a walk? Will you pause in you're scrolling through social media? And take a few moments to sit in the stillness to communicate with God? Will you pray more? Will you read your scriptures more? What will increasing stillness in your life look like for you? It's going to be different for all of us.

11:30

Whatever the changes, I invite you to make it. Ask God to help you. He wants that connection with you and He will inspire you what you need to do, to connect with him and to feel peace and stillness in your life.

11:47

I'm going to conclude with a quote from a religious leader, Russell M. Nelson. He said, "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."

12:15

So if you're looking for peace, amid the commotion or craziness in your life, find and make places where you can be still. I promise God will meet comfort and strengthen you in your stillness. Hope on.

12:36

Hey, thanks so much for listening to today's show. If you like what you heard, subscribe so you can get your weekly dose of powerful stories of hope. I know there are many of you out there who are going through a hard time, and I hope you found useful things that you can apply to your own life in today's podcast. If you'd like to access the show notes of today's show, please visit my website storiesofhopepodcast.com. There you will find a summary of today's show, the transcript and one of my favorite takeaways. You know, if someone kept coming to mind during today's episode, perhaps that means that you should share this episode with them. Maybe there was a story shared or quote or a scripture verse that they really really need to hear. So go ahead and share this podcast. May God bless you, especially if you are struggling with hope to carry on and with the strength to keep going. When things get tough. Remember to walk with Christ and He will help you bear the burden. And above all else, remember God loves you!