SHHHHHHHHHH!

     This weekend I took time away from the craziness which is my life.  Every direction I look there seems to be something going on.  As a teacher my school year is ending as I try to wrap things up, I am having to switch rooms for next year so everything has to be packed up and moved, my house is in renovation so it seems that everything is in disarray, my daughter is getting ready to enter her senior year of high school, so much scheduling for things that go along with that as well as having her wisdom teeth out, traveling to look at colleges, her needing a car, etc... and that is just one of my  kids....... I am also a head volleyball coach and our unofficial season begins this week....along with other countless things running through my head or things needing to be done.  Overwhelmed has been an understatement, but I have learned to make myself just STOP and examine my thoughts to hold them captive and determine their origin before I act.  It doesn't always work but never the less I have gotten better at it little by little.
I decided I just needed a weekend to chill and step away from it all and just be quiet.  Some may call it running, I just call it stepping away from the noise.
During our time away, there were a few times that I looked at my kids who were getting loud and just simply said "shhhhhhhhhh".  I jokingly said that there was a "noise ordinance this weekend" and we all just laughed.  They know my life and they understood the need for the weekend away with my family.  We spent much time sitting by the lake in the sun and just taking it all in listening to nature, the sound of the waves, the birds, the frogs....just being still with Gods creation, something we all needed.
  I was reminded of the story in Mark 4:39 where Jesus was on the boat with the disciples when the storm began.  The disciples were afraid and woke Jesus from his sleep.  He rebuked the winds and said to the sea "peace be still" and the winds ceased and there was a great calm.
As I thought of this, God showed me that Jesus arose and said "Peace be still" over the storm and over the storms that may be raging in our lives.  Upon the start of my weekend the weariness was upon me until I decided to sit in the stillness and soak in the peace and the weariness was washed away.  Sometimes we need to just "SHHHHHHHHHHH!"   Last summer I bought myself and my best friend and each my family a Mud Love bracelet that says "Be Still".  It was a reminder to myself and to each of them that sometimes at times we just need to STOP and Be Still, just like Jesus said to the storm.  The word peace actually means silence, a hush, a stillness or inability to speak or muteness.
When we get quiet in faith, we allow God the ability to reduce all things causing a heaviness or weariness to be silent.  They no longer have the power to speak into our lives and that is such a powerful thing.
He not only did that for me, but will do it for anyone who is willing to receive it.  He is trying to remind us that he is here to speak to the storms of our lives, the things that are causing us to feel weary, things that are trying to steal our peace.  He is speaking to the storms of our lives and commanding peace, to be silent and to cease working in your life.  He is speaking into your life and commanding a great calm to be present.  Nothing is impossible with Him, so don't jump ship.  
I know that there are times in our lives that the storms seem to speak louder than the Word of God that He has placed in our hearts.  There are times when lack speaks loudly, when pain seems to speak louder than God's Word.  Times when situations are yelling at us and telling us we are going to fail or that we are not going to make it, BUT GOD has says "SHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" He is commanding peace amid the storm.  Whenever He does that, the storm WILL cease.
   I don't know what storm is raging in your life, but I do know without a doubt that the Lord is present to calm the storm if you will receive it.  I pray that every storm in your life is silenced and that you experience a great calm.  We have to be willing to SHHHHHH so that we can hear and know that God will command those storms to also SHHHHHHHH!  Peace Be Still.