Silence the Noise

I had a lightbulb moment the other day. You might know the type of moment I’m talking about – you receive a bit of information that is worded in such a way that it makes sense for the first time even though you’ve heard it before. That’s a lightbulb moment. Religious circles might call this a revelation. That’s a bit proper for me and my southern roots – I’m calling it a lightbulb moment.

I struggle regularly with feelings of unworthiness, being ill-equipped, unqualified, and I’m constantly second-guessing myself. As a wife and mother, this is a bit of an inconvenience. Am I being sensitive to my husband’s needs? How much therapy will my kiddos require when they leave home?  As a mom who homeschools, it’s downright obnoxious at times. Did I choose the right curriculum? There are no do-overs; what if they resent me for not putting them in school? We can be hard on ourselves, can’t we?

Setting those areas aside, let’s throw in the very significant area of faith. Oh, how I falter in my faith on the regular! So really, I’m struggling in pretty much every area of my life – every category you can come up with, I’m probably struggling in some form or fashion – yes, I even struggle with fashion (ask anyone). And I often wonder why I’m not experiencing more of God’s promises for us – the ones He made for this side of Heaven.

Why does this happen? Why am I – why are so many of us – going through life feeling completely unqualified, unworthy, or insignificant? In I Kings 19:11-13, Elijah learns to recognize God’s voice; it wasn’t in the strong wind that tore rocks from the mountains, it wasn’t in the earthquake, and it wasn’t in the fire that followed all of that. It was a still, small voice. It was a voice that Elijah had to incline his ear to hear. It’s there – God’s voice – but we have to tune out all the other noise in order to hear it. I tend to have a lot of noise that I tune into, and it has nothing to do with having four loud kiddos.

Some of the noise can be disguised as God’s voice, too, can’t it? Have you ever heard anyone in the church say something like we’re just sinners saved by grace? While that kind of sounds true, is it? This statement implies that sin is still an issue between us and God. I’m not a sinner saved by grace – I was a sinner that was saved by grace, but all of my sins were dealt with before I was ever born. I’m not a sinner. This is a truth that we tend to miss in all the noise. No wonder we struggle with feelings of inadequacy!

Let’s drown out the noise with what God’s Word tells us – God doesn’t see us as sinners! He has forgiven our wickedness and chooses to remember our sins no more (Jeremiah 31:33-34, Hebrews 8:10-12). He has forgiven every sin and has separated us from those sins (Psalm 103:1-12)! We need to stop calling God’s children sinners! We need to start believing that we’re who God says we are.

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” John 14:12-14 NLT

This doesn’t say that anyone who has never messed up, those who have spent the most time in prayer, the person who has the most scripture memorized – no, it says that anyone who believes in Jesus. Our thoughts often betray the truth. Of course, Jesus went around healing all who were sick, diseased, and/or oppressed by demonic spiritual forces – He’s Jesus! He was without sin! He wasn’t separated from God! Of course He was able to do such great works!

Wait a minute…

We’re without sin. We’re no longer separated from the Father. We have access to approach the throne because of Jesus. We have relational familiarity to call Him Daddy because of Jesus. Jesus didn’t just demonstrate some of the great works we’re able to do through Him, but He qualified us to do them – and even greater works. We need to stop disqualifying ourselves – and we need to stop disqualifying God’s people.

This truth hit me like one of those rocks being broken off the mountain in the story with Elijah, shook me like I was experiencing an earthquake (and I have in real life), and it has me inclining my ear to hear more whispers from my Redeemer. As I berate myself – silently or not so silently – I’m painting a picture for all who are watching that Jesus wasn’t enough. His sacrifice left me still lacking. It has me accepting declarations of being a sinner even though I was made new.

But the world is watching. The world and all of the noise in it. The world with all of the noise that we tend to hear over the voice of the Father who forgave us when we were still His enemies (Romans 5:8-10). So how do we drown out the mountain-breaking winds, the growls from the earthquakes, and the roar of the fires? How do we silence the enemy?

It’s not a matter of speaking the right words (declarations have their place) or simply having head knowledge. No, it’s a matter of the heart. We can know what Jesus did for us without it becoming real to us. I want to become so familiar with who God says I am that none of the noise will touch my ear. My heart has to surrender to the truth my mind stays focused on.

Am I inadequate? Are you? When God looks at me, He sees Jesus’ righteousness – was Jesus inadequate? This sounds pretty bold and even a bit scandalous, but when I was an enemy of God, He decided that I was worth His Son’s life. You are worth His Son’s life.

While getting spat on, beaten, whipped, pierced, and stabbed, Jesus could have called it all off, this scandalous plan of removing all of the sin that would ever exist. But instead, He did not open His mouth. Even in His darkest hour, we were deemed worth all of the torture and pain that He would endure. How much more are we seen as worthy now that sin is no longer an issue?

While the world cried out crucify Him! Jesus prayed Father, forgive them. I don’t want to listen to the world – I want to hear Jesus.