The "Noise of Life" Is Loud

By E. Walt Thomas

Sometimes I become overwhelmed by the things going on in my life. My daughters are both driving now. Running around town, one working, both going to school, meeting up with friends, & I worry about them as any Dad when we feel they are no longer in our control. I have growing debt & bills to pay; the economy is tough & new financial needs pop up daily. My oldest daughter started college in the fall; both of the girls got braces last summer, the riding mower bit the dust as did the washer & dryer, the Central A/C broke down and I had to help my oldest buy her first car so she has something to drive to college. The unrest in the world seems to get more intense each day and our President continues to make me nervous with his agenda and ideas. I could go on & on with challenges and concerns that are in my life right now, the “noise of life” you might say. Depending on how loud the noises are I sometimes fall to my knees in tears and prayer to God seeking His comfort.

I have been in church all my life, my Dad is a Baptist pastor, I was saved at just five years old & I love the Lord. I had my times of straying from where I should have been but God has seen me through it all & brought me to this time in my life where I feel I could not be much more close to Him. I have led our home and raised my daughters by the Word of God, not perfectly, but I have done a pretty good job. I can look back and see where God has carried me, I see the troubles & trials He brought me through, and I see clearly now the valleys & the mountain tops of the past. I study His word, I know His Word, so why do I worry & still have such fear & anxiety in my life? Why can I not rest on His promises? Why does life continue to be such a challenge & why do I have these times that bring me to my knees?

One day during my prayers, I asked God these very questions & then in the midst of my prayer a peace came over me with an answer, not an audible voice, but an answer so clear it was like God was right here on His knees beside me. He made me think back to some of the powerful times of prayer I have had in the past & how healing they were. I recalled how during my toughest times my daily devotional book seemed to talk straight to me with a discussion to my exact need at that moment in time. I recalled all the sermons I heard, either at church or on the radio or television that seemed as if the preacher was talking directly to me, like he was tapped into my thoughts & how the tears flowed as in these times Almighty God was speaking to little old me, as if we were face to face. I thought back to just a couple weeks ago when I was so burdened & discouraged I was near depression and then I turned on the television & two sermons in a row ministered to my needs & opened my eyes to all for which I had to be happy and thankful, I went to church & the pastor said exactly what I needed to hear & situation after situation God spoke to me during the course of a few days & raised my spirits and brought me peace & joy.

It was at this point of my prayer that my tears of fear turned to tears of joy as I realized God does not expect us to take all His promises, memorize them & then face life like a super hero, all alone. He gives us His promises so that as the thorns & daggers of life hit us, we remember the promises, we know where to go for peace and safety, and we know who is our refuge & strength. He does not expect us to never fear because His word says, “Fear not” but rather He expects us to run to Him & crawl into His arms of love and safety when we are afraid. Being a Christian does not give you a life without sickness, without problems, without death…we live in the same world, a sinful world, plagued with troubles and hardships. You hear people ask why bad things happen to Christians, they ask why this fine Christian had to die so young with cancer or in a car wreck & frankly the answer is because it rains on the just and the unjust, bad things happen to people, good or bad. Salvation through Jesus Christ & faith in God does not give us clear sailing but it does give us peace, refuge, a lap of comfort & safety. It does, in the end, give us peace, health & perfection for eternity & that is enough for me. I can thank God not for the noise of life but for the quiet peace that comes from knowing He is always as close as a prayer away.