Direction Where?!
There have been times when I’ve been so sure of my direction.
When I can almost audibly hear the Lord say, “Now, Carrie, turn right.”
At other times, however, no matter how hard I strain, all I hear is silence in a world full of noise.
Lately, though, all I’ve heard is noise, and very little silence.
When I picked up my pen this week, also known these days as a small keypad, I promised myself, and you, that I’d rediscover my voice, freeing me from the chains of comparison, doubt, and dare I say, fear.
You see, many of you met me after a rather tumultuous time in my life and career, when I went from performing day in and day out, in a battle of the Squid minds kind of game, to being unemployed for 10 weeks, sitting on a beach somewhere with my toes in the sand and a phone in my hand.
Writing – and write I did.
and reading – and read I did.
I poured over scripture, I devoured His Word, I got lost in the string of stories, woven together perfectly to provide us with a solid foundation of how we are to live each day of our lives.
And I knew the answers. I knew exactly when it was time to step out of the boat and let go of the plan I had so carefully crafted for myself. I knew when we were meant to sell our home and drastically downsize—because losing six figures will push you to make bold moves, if you’re wise. And through it all, I knew He had a purpose, and I trusted it completely, even when it didn’t make sense.
If we are ever so “lucky,” we will have those moments in time where everything just clicks.
Looking back, I now realize that during those times, there was no promise of continuation. No guarantee they will last indefinitely. In fact, there’s often more certainty that they won’t. And yet, we’re meant to draw strength from them—to let those moments carry us through the dark waters. The deep waters. The rough and often overwhelming seasons where clarity fades, and all we have left is faith to keep us moving forward.
There’s so much I want to share—yes, for my own sake, to clear the clutter of a thousand thoughts and lift the heavy banner of processing too much information and remaining silent about how it has changed me. But more than that, I want to tell my story in case, just maybe, my words can help quiet the noise in your world too.
Together, let us seek Him and calm the noise!
“Then he said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the Lord’s presence.”
At that moment, the Lord passed by. A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper.” I Kings 19:11-12
He spoke not through the noise, but through a small whisper.
Written by Carrie Edwards
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Christian Grandfather Magazine
Featured Image by Holger Feulner from Pixabay
