Turn Down the Noise

And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. 

And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 1 Kings 19:12

Hello, dear friends!

Today I'm in 1 Kings 19 with Elijah. In chapter 18, we find Elijah at a spiritual high. God came through in a big way and defeated the prophets of Baal. God was with Elijah big time! But, in chapter 19, Jezebel was pretty angry about what had happened, and vowed to kill Elijah. So he ran. 

Does that surprise you? I mean, he's ELIJAH, the great prophet, who was taken up to heaven by God in a great whirlwind. When circumstances got tough, he ran? Can you relate? I sure can. I may not physically run away when life gets hard, but I mentally run- to books or TV or social media, anything that might help me take my mind off the hard.

Elijah was feeling "done." In verse 4, he asked to die. He was exhausted. The Bible tells us he slept after praying to die. And God sent an angel who fed him. God knew Elijah needed to be physically strengthened so that he could continue the work God had for him. 

Well, Elijah went to Mt. Horeb and found a cave where he took shelter. And God had one question for him in verse 9, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" But Elijah didn't really answer God's question, instead he told God that he was the only one left standing for God, and that he had received a death threat. 

So God told him to go out of the cave, and God sent:

• a mighty wind
• an earthquake
• a fire

But God was not in those things. The loud, chaotic things that so easily get our attention because they are loud and chaotic are often not where we will find God. Instead, God came to him with a whisper, a whisper that asked the same question, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" You see God didn't want him to run away from his problems. In fact, He told Elijah to go right back in to those problems! But, God strengthened him physically and mentally. He had fed him and promised Elijah that he wasn't the only one standing for God. He promised that there would be others to come alongside Elijah in standing for God.

Our world is loud. And there are a lot of problems. So, in the midst of the hard, instead of mentally (or physically) running away from the problems, turn down the noise of the world, and sit with Him in the stillness. God will speak to you through His Word. He will strengthen you and me too.

My life has had a lot of changes lately as we moved from Kansas to Texas. There's been hard and stressful times in this move. But, I just have seen God working over and over. He cares about the details of our lives. And He is there for us. We just have to listen.

Page details: I used the following Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps sets: Ellis Square Alpha, Marker Alpha, Bitty Minnie Alpha, I Am Loved, Texture Tiles 1, Texture Tiles 6, Texture Tiles 9, Gear Up, and Grunge Elements 3. The background was done with distress oxides: Speckled Egg, Dusty Concord, and Chipped Sapphire. I applied them to the page with blender brushes. I spritzed the page with water as the distress oxides react and give a neat effect. Then I used all the stamps. :) I wanted the background stamps to give the idea of the noisiness of life, but the blue area is calm and quiet.

Sit with Him, my friends. He's waiting! Have a blessed week. Andrea

Salt & Light

You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world- like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:13-14

Hi Friends!

Today we're talking about salt and light. And on my page, that is represented by the ocean and the sun. Have you ever been swimming in the ocean, and gotten a mouthful of water? I have, and I have to say, it didn't taste too good! So what did Jesus mean when He said His followers are the salt of the earth? There are differing opinions on this. In Jesus' day, salt was used as a preservative and as a flavor enhancer. So, some people think that Jesus was telling His followers to preserve truth and goodness in this fallen world. Others think Jesus was telling His followers to enhance the world- making God's work stand out from the norms of life. In Jesus' day, salt was valuable. The value of salt lies in it's effect on what is around it. And that's what we, as Jesus' followers, need to do. We need to affect those around us, to impact them in a way that draws them to Jesus. We need to be a positive impact on our communities, living differently than the world. And that brings us to how we are to be light. If we are living differently than the world, we will stand out, or shine. But we aren't to stand out for ourselves. We are to stand out for God's glory. This world is dark. But we know, when we turn a light on in a dark room, the darkness vanishes. Our presence must be like that light- standing for the truth and living in a godly way so that people are drawn to God and embrace His truth. It's easy, as humans, to muddle this up. We can do things in a way that cause others question God or turn away from Him, just like I spit out that salty ocean water. So, I think, dear friends, we must be gentle in our approach- bold, yes most definitely, but gentle, being sure to show the love that Jesus showed. Even when He was guiding and teaching sinners, He loved them. His only anger was directed to the religious leaders who thought they were oh so holy.

Be salt and light. Be like Jesus.

Page details: Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps just released this fabulous alpha set called Ellis Square. Don't ya love it? I sure do! I started by drawing the waves and sun with pencil, then used watercolor crayons to color it in, and finished it by outlining the lines with a Micron pen. Then I stamped the words on top.

Have a blessed week, dear ones! Andrea