Finding What Matters Amidst the Noise

The world seems to be so noisy right now, everyone trying to make sense of what is going on, searching for reasons to the changing landscape we are witnessing, trying to make heads from tails on the issues we are wading through.
Theories, ideas, opinions, and information flying through our screens, our speakers, and our social circles. And the volume is only intensifying.

And my Christian brothers and sisters are no exception, in fact, they are often the greatest culprits of the commotion.   

Much of the talk comes from topics necessary to make sense of- topics uniting us and emboldening us to share truth- life saving truth, in love, with an urgency.
But much of it seems to be a rumble of opinions, theories, and interpretations that dissolve into  attacking, arguing, and dividing over issues that only God himself knows the details of.

As I hear the chatter and watch the words being flung, I am transported back to a place where we have seen this before; over 2000 years ago.

It was told that a savior was coming. Prophesy was spoken, words were written, and everyone was waiting.

As we read this historical account, we find three types of people.

The first group wasn’t even looking for a savior. They didn’t know the Word, the prophesy, or the God that foretold of a savior coming. Perhaps they had not heard, perhaps they were lost, maybe preoccupied, or perhaps they just didn’t care. Regardless, they were not looking for it.
When the King did come, in such an unexpected way, they were faced with a life-altering choice: would they believe and follow him, or would they go their own way?

The second group were those that knew the Word, beginning to end. They knew the prophesies and were so sure of exactly what it would look like. They believed they had ‘insider info’; a higher level of understanding. They were the teachers and the leaders. They were the ones that didn’t listen, they only spoke. They were so sure of their knowledge and understanding, incapable of thinking outside their own set vision of what it would be like, that when the savior did arrive, they missed it. He came, not on a throne wearing a crown, here to save them from their discomfort and their earthly enemy, patting them on their backs for their righteousness, as they anticipated. No, he showed up to them as a simple carpenter that came to save them from the one thing they didn’t think they needed saved from- themselves.
And they missed it.
In fact, they not only missed it, they murdered him because He did not fit what they, who were so sure, thought He should be.


The third group responded like a young girl that came before them, whom an angel visited in a quiet place, telling her that she would birth the savior. A girl with so many questions, each one matched with a faith great enough to answer.
Like her, they knew the word, yet they did not walk around like they had all the details figured out, assuming everybody needed their loud voice to make sense of it. They were not blinded by their own ideas and preconceived visions of exactly what it would be like.
No, they knew the word, and more importantly, they knew the heart of the One that was the Word. They were humble, just as He was. And when it happened, they recognized it. They recognized it and fell to their faces in awe and worship of the king.


Fast forward 2000 years and we find ourselves in a time that feels like we are, again, on the cusp of something big. As things seem to be ramping up, we find the same 3 groups.

There are those that are spiritually unaware of what is happening, the ones that need to hear the truth and the message of grace and hope before it is too late.

There are those that are so sure they know every detail of what is going on and believe that their superior knowledge makes them exempt to the greatest commandment. They seem to lose sight of what truly matters in their desperate need to be right.

Then, the last group, the ones we must strive to be- the ones that not only know the Word but live the Word; the ones using the Word not to back up their own ideas, but to let it mold their thoughts; the ones that have peace with the fact that there are many things only God knows and that there are things that will not be revealed until He comes again, and so they watch, in anticipation, as they focus on the greatest call- walking in peace, truth, and humility while loving the lost and sharing the life-saving gospel.

Let us be careful that neither ignorance, nor pride, stand in the way, causing us to miss what He is doing or rob us of peace, as He is doing it.
Let us not get lost in the weeds of details we may not know, distracting us from sharing the life-giving message of hope that we do know.
Let us ensure that all the distractions of things we cannot control, things we do not understand, do not hinder us from being fruitful in the things we can. ,