See Beyond the Noise
Last night the Princess Warriors women's summer study group gathered for a "rest with God" led by our daughter on her harp. The weather was absolutely perfect for this lakeside respite. Our purpose was to "be still" and draw into the presence of the Lord as he poured out his love over us. The birds were singing out with the harp music in a way that you couldn't help but smile. At one point I felt for certain our yard's deer, chipmunks, bunnies, butterflies, squirrels and salamanders would appear in the yard behind the harp. I know the worms wanted to stick their heads out of the dirt and dance.
There was a precious 96 year old friend in attendance. Multiple times while we were listening to the harp and the Lord she would raise an arm in the air or sing out...sometimes in words, sometimes in groans. Afterwards she explained to us it was so wonderful how the Spirit was welling up to overflowing in her and she felt she was "going to bust." What a glorious example of the joy that is available to us.
Minutes after the music started a weed eater cranked up across the lake. Dang ole devil darts! As I started to pray for this neighbor to give us a 30 minute window to listen to this music in peace or for a piece of the equipment being used to malfunction or run out of gas, the Lord spoke. "See beyond the noise! Turn your eyes upon Jesus." At that moment the song that our daughter started playing on her harp was "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus." Such a confirmation from the Lord to rest in him. Moments after that on the other side of the property there was the huge crash of a tree falling. My husband said he was afraid it had fallen on one of our neighbors' homes, so he headed up to look, but couldn't find the tree. The devil tried to disturb the evening with distractions, but God prevailed.
As I sat with these wonderful women basking in God's love a question came from the Lord.
"What do we do with the noise the world is making right now?"
Instead of allowing the controversies to rob our joy, to stir up bitterness and resentment, we can turn to God in prayer and lay our burdens down while asking Him to fight for us. We are to love those who persecute us by the power available through the Holy Spirit.
Psalm 34:17
The righteous cry and the LORD hears And delivers them out of all their troubles.
James 4:7
Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The Song
"Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus"
