The Challenge Series: Silence the Storm

Written By: Mendy ShriverFive weeks ago, my young, handsome, fit, and brainy husband had a stroke. He is strong, determined, and full of endurance. His stroke happened on a regular busy day, at a Friday night football game. It was 6 days prior to our 20th anniversary. The experience was wildly dramatic for me. Watching him struggle to walk, talk, and see, crushed me into a thousand pieces. It put my life, our marriage, my walk with God, our family, my career, my dreams, my everything - all into clear focus. The focus also shed a spotlight on my many life distractions because all I wanted to do was help my husband recover. The stress of managing the five kids, driving back and forth to the hospital, and getting ready for school to start, completely overwhelmed me.I began to feel anxiety about the smallest of things. The noise of my children fighting, the dog barking, multiple texts, Instagram notifications, sports emails, school emails, news updates about North Korea, Facebook ads, and the long back-to-school list lingering in my head. I found myself grabbing my phone the moment I woke up, scrolling often, and vegging out to my Facebook news feed. I was feeling trapped in comparisons of my messy life to another mom’s perfect vacation. After a few weeks of intense anxiety, I had a panic attack. In that desperate moment, I heard God whispering, “Mendy, you have the power to eliminate distractions so that you can rest and hear my voice better!” And just like that, I deleted Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest from my phone. I turned off my email notifications, and deleted all unnecessary apps. For the next 3 days I was stunned at how many times I’d automatically reached to scroll on my phone. It's officially been two weeks since I silenced the distractions. I've had a lot of quiet moments with Jesus and I started studying the Book of Mark.Early on in Mark the Bible tells us that large crowds were gathering around Jesus as he healed the sick and spoke to multitudes.  In Mark 3:9 Jesus tells His disciples to have a small boat ready for him to keep the people from crowding Him.  As I read those passages, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was a bit overwhelming for Jesus.  Was He loving, healing, speaking and serving so many people that He just needed some rest? In chapter four Jesus calms the storm.  It’s a significant story. Jesus and His disciples first retreat to a boat onto the lake. Jesus sits in the boat as He speaks to the large crowd that is listening from the shore. As the evening came Jesus says, “Let us go over to the other side (of the lake). Leaving the crowd behind, the disciples took Him...” ‭(Mark‬ ‭4:35-36‬ ‭NIV‬‬) Jesus then takes a nap on the boat, but a storm begins to shoot waves over the boat. The waves were so big that they nearly swallowed the boat. The disciples woke Jesus up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”... So Jesus "got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” (‭Mark‬ ‭4:38-39‬ ‭NIV‬‬)As believers, God sometimes wants us to take intentional action and remove the negative distractions in our lives. Unfortunately social media and smartphones can be a constant storm, preventing us from hearing God speak to our troubled hearts. I fully believe when we can clear some space for silence, then God can work in our lives and calm the storm.  He has done that for me in the past two weeks. I know he can do that for you.  If you are feeling overwhelmed, having anxiety, feeling confused and lonely, I challenge you to silence the distractions and rest quietly with Jesus. He’s ready to whisper in your ear. He loves you. He’s fighting your battles. He wants to calm your storm.Silencing Challenge:

1. There are a million things that can distract us from a restful relationship with Jesus.  Recently, for me, it has been social media and my smart phone.  I would bet that is a challenge for you too, but maybe that is not the distraction Jesus is talking to you about.  What do you need to remove from your life so that you can see, hear, and be comforted by the Holy Spirit?
2. Have an honest conversation with God right now.  Sit alone with Him and allow him to speak into your heart.  List all the many distractions in your life that keep you from hearing His voice.  Pick the one you feel Jesus leading you to eliminate. Take action, be committed, and silence the stormy distractions. He wants to meet with you.

Mendy is an energetic yet tired, scattered, and crazy mother to 5 teens. She's been married to her high school sweetheart for 20 years. Mendy has a BA in Marriage and Family Counseling and a minor in Religious Studies from Oklahoma Baptist University. She passionate about advocating for orphans, babies, and pro-life clinics. You can hear more from Mendy here