Blessing in the Dark

The world is so loud! We are bombarded with videos and reels and conflict. The yelling and arguing are overwhelming most days. Even when we try to avoid the constant stream of division, it’s so easy to get swallowed up in the chaos. 

Even the church has joined the noise. The church used to be a safe space, but not so much anymore. What used to be subtle differences in practice and tradition are now gaping holes. Holes big enough to lose Jesus in! It’s just one more means for the enemy to wreak havoc in a world desperate for the Lord. 

It all adds up to NOISE! Noise that invades our lives every day. Noise that drowns out that still small voice that balances out good and evil. Noise that the world WANTS us to hear; that wants to convince us it holds all the power. 

But that would be a lie – from the one whose mouth is full of lies. 

So where do I find solitude? Where do I go to escape the noise? 

Like most lessons... I learn the hard way.

I have been dealing with migraines for 35 years. Some seasons are tougher than others. This is a tough season. I’ve spent hours and hours in the quiet darkness trying to find relief. And all the medicine and doctoring and missed work can easily lead to a cycle of mental and physical destruction... exhaustion. 

Then God shows up. 

In my prayers of desperation comes that still small voice. That whisper that sits on your heart in the most gentle and comforting way, so gentle it makes your mind stop out of pure curiosity. And in those moments of wonder you realize that the noise is gone, and all you hear is Him. 

In my prayers of desperation to make it all stop, I hear that still small voice that my heart longs for... that voice that got lost in the noise. The Creator of heaven and earth used my pain to speak life into my heart. 

And the lesson? Maybe I should sit in the quiet darkness on good days, instead of just on bad days. Maybe I should do more listening, instead of talking. Maybe I should do more seeking, instead of waiting for Him to “find me.” Because in all truth, God is always there, always reaching out, always whispering – I just chose to let the noise drown Him out. 

Scripture tells us to persistently pursue. Matthew 7:7 says, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." Those are red letter words! In His most famous sermon, Jesus is speaking life into a crowd that thinks God is unattainable – that He can only be found through the laws of the Old Testament. Jesus wants them to know that God is just a breath away – that no amount of good works will bring them into His presence, that all they have to do is ask. 

But His words also remind us that we have some responsibility to our relationship with God. A relationship is a two-way connection. If we never ask, how can we be answered? If we never seek, how can we find? If we never knock, how will anyone know we’re at the door?  

Or maybe Jesus wants ME to know that God is just a breath away? That He is always attainable... even in the chaos I choose to dwell in. Maybe I should choose the quiet darkness instead of the noise. Maybe I should do more seeking and less waiting. Maybe I’ve grown content in Jesus doing all the pursuing.

Maybe I shouldn’t use the word “maybe.” 

Jeremiah 29:13

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."