This world is a loud and noisy place. Many voices speak to us, at us and into us. Some days I feel as though I may go “mad” working to do this and this and this and this.

• Reply to this email ASAP!
• Pick me up at 8.
• Can you drive me here?
• What’s for dinner?
• Are there any clean towels?
• Where are my keys?
• You really need to get to the gym.
• What meeting?

It’s easy to give power to these voices. It’s easy to be swept away day after day into a frenzy of busyness, never really accomplishing anything. These voices will control us, they will take every waking minute from us and they will, at times, ruin us.

• The voice of inadequacy
• The voice of guilt
• The voice of fear
• The voice of shame

They fill our mind on our pursuit to do “all of the things” and shame us into guilt when we absolutely can not keep up.

It was one of those days for me. The voices were in full scream mode. I felt hopeless. Nothing I did was enough. The To-do list would not go away, actually it became longer and longer as the day edged on. Guilt and shame set in and became so heavy until a silent cry came over me. I was overwhelmed. The voices were tearing me up. How did I get here? Why have they backed me into this corner? I almost felt defeated. Somehow, in my hopelessness I mustered up just enough bravery to say “stop, just stop!” In a moment, my mind became Still. In that moment there was a sweet silence that came over me and this verse came to mind

Psalm 46:10 “Be Still and know that I am God”

The voice of God came to me this day. It did not come to me in the soft encouraging way that we often think of in this verse. It came to me in a commanding way, almost as if a parent would startle their child with an abrupt “BE STILL!” after asking them many times prior to do so. It was a loving nudge from God to me – stop. be still. let go. stop fighting. stop fearing. snap out of it. let go. I got this. Right then, in that moment of fear and fighting, God reminded me what His voice sounded like. Every other voice had been immediately quieted and I knew the voice of my Father was near.

No, the “to-do” list did not magically go away. God’s voice comforted me, just like the voice of a parent in the night to a frightened child. His voice overcame the voices of doubt and fear.

What if we stopped listening to the “other” voices? What if we mustered up just enough bravery, stomped our foot and said “ENOUGH!”

Take this moment in time to just be still. Place your hand to your heart and declare greatness, power, strength and courage. Know that your Daddy God is there cheering you on. Just when you think you can’t take another minute, his voice of hope, peace, comfort and love can be heard if you’ll just stop, be still and listen.