December 17, 2024 • 24 mins
Today we tackle a challenge that so many of us face but don’t always talk about: how to find true peace in a world overflowing with noise and overstimulation. From the constant pings of our phones and the never-ending news cycle to the mental chatter that never seems to quiet down, it feels like we’re surrounded by chaos. And even when life demands us to be present, the pressure of endless stimulation makes it nearly impossible to find the stillness our souls crave.
Join Leanne as we dive into the reality of navigating this noise. She shares her personal journey of learning to silence the external chaos and reconnect with the present, as well as stories from clients who’ve faced similar battles. Together, we’ll explore practical steps to turn down the volume of life’s distractions and create moments of stillness where we can reconnect with ourselves and hear God’s whisper amidst the noise. Because peace isn’t about removing all the noise—it’s about finding calm and connection even when life is anything but quiet.
If you’ve felt overwhelmed, overstimulated, or simply exhausted by life’s constant demands, this episode will help you reclaim your peace and find sacred spaces in your everyday life, so you can turn up the volume on what truly matters.
HOST: Leanne Ellington // StresslessEating.com // @leanneellington
To learn more about Leanne, head over to www.LeanneEllington.com, and to share your thoughts, questions, feedback, or guest suggestions instantly, head on over to www.WhatsGodGotToDoWithIt.com.
Follow Leanne on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leanneellington/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
If you want to go on a journey. If you're skeptical,
don't worry.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Now Here to preach.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I'm gonna keep it clean and talk to me and
recall where faith meet spars of nature and get in
touch with your creator with a bacon, love and jew.
She even speaks Hebrew. What's that, Ganzato? What's that? This
(00:37):
well sabosation? You should talking transformation? What's that? Gonzato?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Hey, Hey, and welcome back to another episode of What's
God Got to Do with It? And today we're diving
into a topic that I know hits close to home
for a lot of us, and it's about finding peace
and stillness in a world that is just so noisy. Now,
when I say noisy, I'm not talking about the literal
noise like you know, your kids yelling, or your neighbor
(01:05):
mowing the lawn at seven am, or you know, the
honking horns of traffic. I'm talking about the mental and
emotional and spiritual noise that we are bombarded with every
single day. I mean, let's be real, between our phones
pinging every few seconds, and the constant news cycle and
the endless scroll of social media, it feels like there's
always something demanding our attention. Right, And even when we're
(01:28):
not being physically pulled in a million directions, there's that
never ending inner dialogue in our heads, like the worries,
the doubts, the overthinking, the spirals, the downward spirals, all
the things. Right. But here's the thing. It's not just
annoying or inconvenient. It's actually exhausting us. And more than that,
it's debilitating us. And it's like we're living in a
(01:50):
state of constant stimulation and constantly filling our minds with
more and more stuff, and it's crowding out our ability
to just be, like to just be present, to be still,
to hear the voice of God amidst all.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Of the chaos. And let me tell you, I get
there all the time.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
And so I'm not talking about this from some ivory
tower like I've got it all.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Figured it out. No, I am talking about it because
I walk through it.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
I have, I still do, and I have seasons in
my life where there is nothing but noise, and you
know where, I'm running from one thing to the next,
checking emails at red lights and scrolling through Instagram in
the line at the grocery store and filling every moment
of silence with something. And you know what, I thought
I was being productive, Like I thought I was winning
(02:39):
at life because I was doing so much and I
was go, go, going, and I was like always busy, right.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
But here's the truth.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
All of that noise was drowning out the voice of
God and I wasn't connecting with myself, let alone with him.
I was kind of just existing, like not really living.
And I see this pattern playing out so much in
so many women's lives. And so, you know, maybe you're
nod in your head right now, thinking Leanne, that sounds
just like me. And if so, I want you to
(03:08):
know that you are not alone, and it's not just you.
Our entire world is set up in a way that
keeps us constantly stimulated and constantly distracted and constantly striving.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
And if you're.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Anything like me, that can become a hiding place, and
that can actually numb you out. And if we're not careful,
we can lose ourselves in it, like really lose ourselves
in it, and we can lose sight of God's voice
and his peace, and we can end up feeling disconnected
and overwhelmed, like we're running on empty and so today
(03:42):
I really just want us to take a step back
and look at what is actually going on, Like why
is it so hard to find peace and stillness in
a world that is so noisy? And more importantly, how
can we start to reclaim that peace in our lives?
Like how can we start to turn down the volume
on everything else and turn up the volume on God's voice?
(04:06):
Because let's be honest, finding peace isn't just about eliminating
distractions or turning off the TV. It's about cultivating an
inner stillness where you can be fully present and fully
connected to yourself and fully aware of God's presence. And
it's about finding that quiet place in your spirit where
(04:28):
you can actually hear God speaking above all of the
chaos and the clutter. And that's what we're going to
talk about today, like how to navigate the noise of
our overstimulated world and how to start creating space in
your life for peace and stillness and a deeper connection
with God starting with again. And this is not me
(04:51):
being an expert in this, This is just my own
experiences that I am a gal of my own journey
and I am passing along the steps that really help
and support me because I I needed to create frameworks
and steps for myself. So we're gonna start with step one,
which is getting honest about where the noise is coming from.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
This has got to be the first step.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
And so you've got to get honest about where that
noise is coming from and how it's sneaking into your life,
because trust me, it is very, very sneaky, and it's
so easy to let all this noise in without even
realizing it. Like we think we're being good stories of
our time and our energy, but it's not something that
is even conscious all the time. Or maybe it's that
(05:32):
automatic habit of reaching for your phone first thing in
the morning or leaving the TV on for background noise,
or maybe it's the constant need to fill every spare
moment with something right, like checking emails and listening to
a podcast or scrolling through social media.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
It's like we are.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
For me at least, it feels like I'm allergic to
silence or something. And I remember this one moment of
realization that I had and I was having lunch with
a friend and as she got up to use the restroom,
my first instance, like without even thinking about it, was
to grab my phone and it hit me like I
couldn't even sit still for a few seconds without feeling
(06:08):
the need to fill that space with something. And of
course my phone was just like my kind of addictive
brain reaching for what I knew and what it was
used to reaching for. And it was like, I was
afraid of being alone with my own thoughts. And if
I'm being you know, really honest, a lot of that
was about avoiding discomfort and avoiding the deeper things that
(06:31):
I didn't want to face, like my own insecurities, or
my own doubts, or my own inner struggles.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
And so maybe that's where you are too, Like maybe you're.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Using all of the noise and the distractions to keep
yourself from having to deal with the deeper stuff. Because
when we allow silence to settle in, and when when
we finally turn off all the external noise, guess what happens. Well, yeah,
the internal noise just gets louder. Right, So all those
thoughts and emotions that you've been pushing down, they probably
(07:03):
start to bubble up, and it's uncomfortable, especially if you
don't have the tools to deal with them. Right, And
that is why I give my clients the tools. That's
the first thing I do is like help them have
the tools to start navigating whatever comes bubbling it up.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
But here's what I want you to know.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
That discomfort of the old stuff kind of bubbling up,
it is a sign and it's a signal that there
is something there that needs to be either acknowledged or
healed or just simply surrendered to God.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And so let's get real honest.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Here, like what is your noise? Like where are you
letting in distractions to avoid being present in your life?
And is it mindless scrolling on your phone or is
it binge watching Netflix to numb out at the end
of a long day, or is it constantly filling your
schedules so that you don't have a single moment of downtime. Right,
And for some of my clients, it's more than one. Right,
(07:57):
It's like they're numbing out on their phone while they're
watching Netflix, while they're eating bonbonds or chips. Right, everybody
says bonbonds, but like, I don't even think bon bonds
have been available.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Since the nineties.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
But do you know what I'm saying, Like it's like
a mishmash of these these numbing devices all used at
once or they're playing games on their phone while they're
watching Netflix.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I really want you to take a second to think
about it, because awareness is really the first step to change. So, like,
what's your noise and what is your coping mechanism? The
next step or step two is just reframing your relationship
with stillness. And so now that you've identified where the
noise is coming from, now what like, now we need
(08:38):
to reframe your relationship with stillness.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Because for a lot of us, stillness feels weird, it
feels foreign.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
It might even feel unproductive, like if you're not constantly
doing something, then you are wasting time or being lazy.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
But let's get one thing straight.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Stillness is not laziness and it's not in activity. Stillness
is actually the opposite. It is a discipline, and it's
an intentional practice of quieting your mind and your heart
and your spirit so that you can actually hear God.
And that's where the real transformation happens. And so let
(09:17):
me tell you about my client Anna real quick.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Anna is this amazing, high achieving woman who's built an
incredible career, but she always felt like she was one
step away from burnout and she'd say Leanne, like, I'm
doing everything I'm supposed to be doing. I'm you know,
killing it at work, I'm involved at church, I'm taking
care of my family, but i still feel like I'm
missing something. And as we dug deeper, it became clear
(09:42):
she was filling her life with so much doing that
she'd lost touch with being, like she didn't even know
how to access it. She'd lost touch with God's presence.
And so first we had to address the self image
and identity and beliefs that were causing her to think
that but hustling so much was a good thing and
that her identity came from that, and the beliefs and
(10:05):
self image had to be addressed before the behavior side
of things, because the behavior side of things was really
just a symptom. And then we could look at her
habits and behaviors. And that's why after that we were
able to work on this practice of stillness, of creating
small pockets of quiet in her day where she wasn't
doing or achieving or performing, she was just being. And
(10:27):
at first, I will be totally honest, she hated it.
She probably hated me right, and she was like, I
feel like I'm wasting time I should be doing something.
But as she continued to lean in to that discomfort,
she started to notice a shift. And after the first
shift came the next and the next and the next,
and she felt more connected, more at peace, more present,
(10:50):
and she realized that stillness wasn't about doing less. It
was about experiencing more, more of God's peace, more of
his love, more of his guidance. But she had to
get out of the way, right And here's what I
want you to know. You have permission to be still.
(11:12):
You have permission to rest and to not be productive,
and to simply be with God and allow him to
fill those empty spaces that the noise, Let's be honest,
it will never fill. You're gonna try to think that
it can, or maybe seduce yourself into thinking that the
noise will fill it, but I promise you it never will.
(11:41):
And then step three, And this might sound crazy, but
this is kind of how I describe it. I invite
God into the chaos, okay, And so I know, sometimes
the chaos feels so overwhelming that the idea of finding
stillness seems impossible. And so maybe you've got kids running around,
or a busy job, or a million responsibilities that make
(12:02):
silence feel like a luxury that you cannot afford. But
here's what I really want you to remember. You can
find peace even in the chaos, and you don't have
to wait until your circumstances are perfect to find stillness.
And that was one of the biggest lies that I
had to overhaul myself and then with my clients as well.
(12:23):
Of this lie that it's like, oh, I have to
wait for better timing to find stillness or I have
to wait until things slow down or find peace to
get out of the chaos. And that is the biggest
lie of them all. And there's this beautiful verse in
Psalm forty six to ten that says, be still and
know that I am God. And here's what's so powerful
(12:45):
about that verse, Like God's not saying be still when
everything is perfect and quiet and you have no distractions, right,
He's saying, be still in the midst of it all,
knowing that I am God, even when your world it
feels like it's spinning out of control. And I know
it's a catch twenty two because it's like, leanne, I
don't have a moment to myself, and it's like, that's
(13:06):
exactly when you need to be still and let God
infiltrate your spirit. So instead of waiting for the perfect
time or the perfect circumstances, start practicing stillness right where
you are, even if it's just for a few moments.
And maybe that means just taking a deep breath in
your car before you walk into the house, or maybe
(13:28):
it means pausing for a moment in between meetings just
to close your eyes and say, God, I need you
right now, like, help me find your peace, let me
borrow your peace. Or maybe it's sitting in the bathroom
for a few extra seconds after your shower and letting
the steam settle around you, reminding yourself that God's presence
is always with you, even in the most ordinary moments,
(13:51):
and you don't need a silent room or an hour
of uninterrupted time. And in God's not asking you to
run off to a monastery, right He's asked you to
invite him into your real life and you're right now life.
Because it's in those little pauses and those tiny moments
of stillness that we start to experience His peace in
(14:13):
a very tangible way. It's like taking a sip of
cold water on a hot day. It refreshes and nourishes you,
even if it's just a few SIPs at a time.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
And then step four for me, I needed to create
my own sacred space for peace. Okay, So this one's
really important. It's about our nervous systems thrive with a
powerful environment. And our environment one of my favorite quotes
from one of my favorite neuroscientists is he says, your
brain becomes whatever it rests on. So it's like, what
(14:44):
environment is your brain resting on? So this one's important.
We need to talk about creating sacred spaces of peace
in your life because, let's be real, peace doesn't just
happen by accident. It's something that we have to cultivate intentionally.
And so ask yourself, what what are some places or
times or activities in your life where you can create
(15:04):
a sense of stillness and connect with God. And so
for some of you, that might mean finding a quiet
corner in your home that's just yours, like a place
where you can sit with your Bible or your journal
or just your own thoughts without distractions. And for others,
it might be creating a morning routine where you start
the day with a few minutes of silence and prayer
(15:24):
or meditation. And hey, if mornings aren't your thing, because
let's be honest, not everyone's a morning person, find another
time that works for you, like maybe during your lunch
break or right before bed. And here's a little trick
that's helped me, and this helps my clients a lot.
Pair your quiet moments with something that you already love
and that you're already doing. So maybe it's sitting on
(15:46):
your porch with a cup of tea, or taking a
slow walk around your neighborhood. Or maybe in the case
of doing something that you're already doing, it can literally
be putting on worship music while you brush your teeth.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Right.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
The point is to create small pockets of peace that
allow you to quiet your mind and.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Just be present with God.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
And so one of my clients, Joe, she used to
struggle with this, and she'd say, leanne, I don't have
time to sit around and be still, Like, I've got
a business to run, I've got kids to take care
of and a house to keep up. But what we
realize is that it wasn't about finding more time. It
was about creating space within the time that she already had. Like,
(16:26):
think about all the I pointed out to her. I
was like, let's look at all of the times that
you are literally spending going down rabbit holes of mindlessness
or even anxiety, and let's redirect that time. Let's take
back power from that mental real estate and fill that
same time with things that fill you up. And again,
it wasn't about finding more time, it was about creating
(16:49):
space within the time that.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
She already had. And so she started.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Integrating stillness into her existing routines. And she obviously we
had to carve this out in brains and figure out
what that was. But she would take a few moments
of silence right after dropping her kids off at school,
and she'd sit in the car and she'd take a
deep breath and she'd just let herself be with God
for a minute before driving off, or she'd use one
of the audios that I provide my clients. And guess what,
(17:16):
those few minutes made all the difference, because she didn't
need an hour, just a few moments. She felt calmer,
she was more centered, and she was more connected, and
that peace started to carry over into the rest of
her day. Okay, and then step five is really you
have to guard your mind and your spirit against unnecessary noise.
(17:38):
So once we've carved it out, you need to protect it.
And so here's the thing. If we're not careful, the
world's noise will creep right back in and steal our peace.
So we have to be intentional about guarding our minds
and spirits. It's like putting up a fence around your garden,
like you want to protect what's growing inside, right, And
so one practical way to do this is to really
(18:01):
just set some boundaries around what you let into your mind.
This is one of the first things I do with
my clients. But you know, taking a look at your habits,
like are you waking up and immediately reaching for your
phone or are you scrolling social media at every spare
moment or are you consuming content that leaves you feeling
drained and anxious or disconnected? And if so, it might
(18:21):
be time for a little detox. And I'm not saying
you need to quit social media or ditch your phone entirely,
Like we're not talking about extremes here, but.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
What if you just started your day without it?
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Like what if instead of scrolling first thing in the morning,
you spent the first few minutes in gratitude or prayer,
or what if you set a timer on your app
so that you're not mindlessly scrolling for hours? Or if
you're like me and you love having background noise, what
if you swapped out Netflix for worship music or a
podcast that uplifts you? Because what you feed your mind matters,
(18:56):
and what you allow in shapes your thoughts, your mood,
and your spirit. So I invite you to really be
intentional and choose wisely and don't let the world's chaos
steal your peace, Okay, And then the sixth and final
step is just you have to choose it. You have
(19:16):
to choose peace when life gets loud. And I really
want to be clear here, like creating peace does it
mean shutting yourself off from the world or pretending like
everything's roses and butterflies? Like life gets loud and things
happen and chaos hits us out of nowhere sometimes, and
that's totally okay.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
And so finding peace isn't about.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Controlling your circumstances. It's about choosing how you respond to them.
Are you reacting or are you responding most women, most
people are walking around reacting, right, And it's about saying Okay, God,
I am overwhelmed right now and there is a lot
going on and I don't feel peaceful. But I'm choosing
to trust you in the midst of it, and I'm
(19:55):
choosing to believe that you are my piece even when
it feels chaotic. And these are like there's some specific
tools around this that I teach my clients. But one
of the most beautiful examples I've seen of this was
from my client Maggie. And so, Maggie actually lost her
job unexpectedly and her entire life felt like it was
spiling out of control. And she told me like, Leanne,
(20:16):
I do not know how to find peace right now,
like everything feels so uncertain. And I didn't try to
sugarcoat it or give her some you know, cliche advice
like just trust God, It'll all be okay, you know. Instead,
I asked her, I asked her a powerful question instead
of telling her, I'm like, what would it look like
to invite God into this uncertainty? Like what would it
(20:36):
look like to find peace in the middle of the storm,
rather than waiting for everything to calm down. In other words,
it was about shifting her thoughts about her circumstances rather
than waiting for the circumstances to change her thoughts, because
that was totally out of her control.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
But her thoughts were in her control.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
So she took that question to heart, and instead of
running from her fear and anxiety, she starts inviting God
into it. And she'd pray like, God, I am scared
right now, I'm overwhelmed. I don't know what's coming next,
but I'm trusting you that you are with me in
this moment, like, show me your peace even in the unknown.
And day by day she started to feel that peace
(21:17):
settle over her, not because her circumstances magically changed overnight,
because her heart did, and she changed her mind and
her brain around it. And that's what I want for you,
my friend. I want you to know that peace isn't
the absence of noise or chaos.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
It's the presence of God in the midst of it.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
It's knowing that no matter what's going on around you,
and no matter how loud or overwhelming life gets, you
can find stillness and calm in His presence. And so
today I want to just leave you with this permission,
slip Okay, you have permission to quiet the noise and
you have permission to choose peace, and you have permission
(22:01):
to say no to the distractions and the chaos and
the overstimulation.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
And yes, say yes.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
You have my permission to say yes to the stillness
that your heart and soul is probably desperately craving. And
you don't have to live in a constant state of overwhelm,
and you don't have to let the world's noise drown
out God's voice. You can choose to create space for him,
and you can choose to turn down the volume on
(22:29):
everything else and turn up the volume on his love
and his grace and his peace, because I'm telling you,
when you do that, you'll always find it. So as always,
if this message spoke to you today, I'd love it
if you share it with somebody who might also need
to hear it, so that we can keep turning our
hearts and minds back to the one who is the
source of all true peace. And so thank you so
(22:52):
much for joining me today, And I'm praying for you
as you navigate the noise and create space for stillness
and peace in your life. And so until next week,
embrace the quiet, keep looking for God's peace in every moment,
because I promise you, if you look for it, you
will one thousand percent find it.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Okay, talk to you next time. Bye. We'll be back
with more What's God Got to Do with It?
Speaker 2 (23:19):
But in the meantime, I would definitely love to hear
from you, so just tell me where you are in
your story or maybe what questions you have, like where
do you feel you need clarity or support or wisdom
in your own journey. I definitely want to hear from you,
So head on over to What's God Got to Do
with It? Dot com and scroll down to the form
(23:40):
to share your thoughts, your questions, your feedback, and you
can do that instantly.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
So What's God Got to Do with It? Dot Com?
You'll find all the ways to do that.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
And if you like this podcast and want to hear more,
go ahead and follow, like, and subscribe wherever you listen
to podcasts to get your weekly dose of What's God
Got to Do with It? Episodes drop every single Tuesday,
and while you're there, be.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Sure to rate and review to show your support. It
really means so much. What's God Got to Do With It?
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Is an iHeartRadio podcast on the Amy Brown Podcast Network.
It's written and hosted by me Leanne Ellington, Executive produced
by Elizabeth Fozzio, post production and editing by Houston Tilley,
and original music written
Speaker 1 (24:25):
By Cheryl Stark and produced by Adam Stark
If you want to go on a journey. If you're skeptical,
don't worry.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Now Here to preach.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I'm gonna keep it clean and talk to me and
recall where faith meet spars of nature and get in
touch with your creator with a bacon, love and jew.
She even speaks Hebrew. What's that, Ganzato? What's that? This
(00:37):
well sabosation? You should talking transformation? What's that? Gonzato?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Hey, Hey, and welcome back to another episode of What's
God Got to Do with It? And today we're diving
into a topic that I know hits close to home
for a lot of us, and it's about finding peace
and stillness in a world that is just so noisy. Now,
when I say noisy, I'm not talking about the literal
noise like you know, your kids yelling, or your neighbor
(01:05):
mowing the lawn at seven am, or you know, the
honking horns of traffic. I'm talking about the mental and
emotional and spiritual noise that we are bombarded with every
single day. I mean, let's be real, between our phones
pinging every few seconds, and the constant news cycle and
the endless scroll of social media, it feels like there's
always something demanding our attention. Right, And even when we're
(01:28):
not being physically pulled in a million directions, there's that
never ending inner dialogue in our heads, like the worries,
the doubts, the overthinking, the spirals, the downward spirals, all
the things. Right. But here's the thing. It's not just
annoying or inconvenient. It's actually exhausting us. And more than that,
it's debilitating us. And it's like we're living in a
(01:50):
state of constant stimulation and constantly filling our minds with
more and more stuff, and it's crowding out our ability
to just be, like to just be present, to be still,
to hear the voice of God amidst all.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Of the chaos. And let me tell you, I get
there all the time.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
And so I'm not talking about this from some ivory
tower like I've got it all.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Figured it out. No, I am talking about it because
I walk through it.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
I have, I still do, and I have seasons in
my life where there is nothing but noise, and you
know where, I'm running from one thing to the next,
checking emails at red lights and scrolling through Instagram in
the line at the grocery store and filling every moment
of silence with something. And you know what, I thought
I was being productive, Like I thought I was winning
(02:39):
at life because I was doing so much and I
was go, go, going, and I was like always busy, right.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
But here's the truth.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
All of that noise was drowning out the voice of
God and I wasn't connecting with myself, let alone with him.
I was kind of just existing, like not really living.
And I see this pattern playing out so much in
so many women's lives. And so, you know, maybe you're
nod in your head right now, thinking Leanne, that sounds
just like me. And if so, I want you to
(03:08):
know that you are not alone, and it's not just you.
Our entire world is set up in a way that
keeps us constantly stimulated and constantly distracted and constantly striving.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
And if you're.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Anything like me, that can become a hiding place, and
that can actually numb you out. And if we're not careful,
we can lose ourselves in it, like really lose ourselves
in it, and we can lose sight of God's voice
and his peace, and we can end up feeling disconnected
and overwhelmed, like we're running on empty and so today
(03:42):
I really just want us to take a step back
and look at what is actually going on, Like why
is it so hard to find peace and stillness in
a world that is so noisy? And more importantly, how
can we start to reclaim that peace in our lives?
Like how can we start to turn down the volume
on everything else and turn up the volume on God's voice?
(04:06):
Because let's be honest, finding peace isn't just about eliminating
distractions or turning off the TV. It's about cultivating an
inner stillness where you can be fully present and fully
connected to yourself and fully aware of God's presence. And
it's about finding that quiet place in your spirit where
(04:28):
you can actually hear God speaking above all of the
chaos and the clutter. And that's what we're going to
talk about today, like how to navigate the noise of
our overstimulated world and how to start creating space in
your life for peace and stillness and a deeper connection
with God starting with again. And this is not me
(04:51):
being an expert in this, This is just my own
experiences that I am a gal of my own journey
and I am passing along the steps that really help
and support me because I I needed to create frameworks
and steps for myself. So we're gonna start with step one,
which is getting honest about where the noise is coming from.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
This has got to be the first step.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
And so you've got to get honest about where that
noise is coming from and how it's sneaking into your life,
because trust me, it is very, very sneaky, and it's
so easy to let all this noise in without even
realizing it. Like we think we're being good stories of
our time and our energy, but it's not something that
is even conscious all the time. Or maybe it's that
(05:32):
automatic habit of reaching for your phone first thing in
the morning or leaving the TV on for background noise,
or maybe it's the constant need to fill every spare
moment with something right, like checking emails and listening to
a podcast or scrolling through social media.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
It's like we are.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
For me at least, it feels like I'm allergic to
silence or something. And I remember this one moment of
realization that I had and I was having lunch with
a friend and as she got up to use the restroom,
my first instance, like without even thinking about it, was
to grab my phone and it hit me like I
couldn't even sit still for a few seconds without feeling
(06:08):
the need to fill that space with something. And of
course my phone was just like my kind of addictive
brain reaching for what I knew and what it was
used to reaching for. And it was like, I was
afraid of being alone with my own thoughts. And if
I'm being you know, really honest, a lot of that
was about avoiding discomfort and avoiding the deeper things that
(06:31):
I didn't want to face, like my own insecurities, or
my own doubts, or my own inner struggles.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
And so maybe that's where you are too, Like maybe you're.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Using all of the noise and the distractions to keep
yourself from having to deal with the deeper stuff. Because
when we allow silence to settle in, and when when
we finally turn off all the external noise, guess what happens. Well, yeah,
the internal noise just gets louder. Right, So all those
thoughts and emotions that you've been pushing down, they probably
(07:03):
start to bubble up, and it's uncomfortable, especially if you
don't have the tools to deal with them. Right, And
that is why I give my clients the tools. That's
the first thing I do is like help them have
the tools to start navigating whatever comes bubbling it up.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
But here's what I want you to know.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
That discomfort of the old stuff kind of bubbling up,
it is a sign and it's a signal that there
is something there that needs to be either acknowledged or
healed or just simply surrendered to God.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
And so let's get real honest.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Here, like what is your noise? Like where are you
letting in distractions to avoid being present in your life?
And is it mindless scrolling on your phone or is
it binge watching Netflix to numb out at the end
of a long day, or is it constantly filling your
schedules so that you don't have a single moment of downtime. Right,
And for some of my clients, it's more than one. Right,
(07:57):
It's like they're numbing out on their phone while they're
watching Netflix, while they're eating bonbonds or chips. Right, everybody
says bonbonds, but like, I don't even think bon bonds
have been available.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Since the nineties.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
But do you know what I'm saying, Like it's like
a mishmash of these these numbing devices all used at
once or they're playing games on their phone while they're
watching Netflix.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I really want you to take a second to think
about it, because awareness is really the first step to change. So, like,
what's your noise and what is your coping mechanism? The
next step or step two is just reframing your relationship
with stillness. And so now that you've identified where the
noise is coming from, now what like, now we need
(08:38):
to reframe your relationship with stillness.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Because for a lot of us, stillness feels weird, it
feels foreign.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
It might even feel unproductive, like if you're not constantly
doing something, then you are wasting time or being lazy.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
But let's get one thing straight.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Stillness is not laziness and it's not in activity. Stillness
is actually the opposite. It is a discipline, and it's
an intentional practice of quieting your mind and your heart
and your spirit so that you can actually hear God.
And that's where the real transformation happens. And so let
(09:17):
me tell you about my client Anna real quick.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
Now.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Anna is this amazing, high achieving woman who's built an
incredible career, but she always felt like she was one
step away from burnout and she'd say Leanne, like, I'm
doing everything I'm supposed to be doing. I'm you know,
killing it at work, I'm involved at church, I'm taking
care of my family, but i still feel like I'm
missing something. And as we dug deeper, it became clear
(09:42):
she was filling her life with so much doing that
she'd lost touch with being, like she didn't even know
how to access it. She'd lost touch with God's presence.
And so first we had to address the self image
and identity and beliefs that were causing her to think
that but hustling so much was a good thing and
that her identity came from that, and the beliefs and
(10:05):
self image had to be addressed before the behavior side
of things, because the behavior side of things was really
just a symptom. And then we could look at her
habits and behaviors. And that's why after that we were
able to work on this practice of stillness, of creating
small pockets of quiet in her day where she wasn't
doing or achieving or performing, she was just being. And
(10:27):
at first, I will be totally honest, she hated it.
She probably hated me right, and she was like, I
feel like I'm wasting time I should be doing something.
But as she continued to lean in to that discomfort,
she started to notice a shift. And after the first
shift came the next and the next and the next,
and she felt more connected, more at peace, more present,
(10:50):
and she realized that stillness wasn't about doing less. It
was about experiencing more, more of God's peace, more of
his love, more of his guidance. But she had to
get out of the way, right And here's what I
want you to know. You have permission to be still.
(11:12):
You have permission to rest and to not be productive,
and to simply be with God and allow him to
fill those empty spaces that the noise, Let's be honest,
it will never fill. You're gonna try to think that
it can, or maybe seduce yourself into thinking that the
noise will fill it, but I promise you it never will.
(11:41):
And then step three, And this might sound crazy, but
this is kind of how I describe it. I invite
God into the chaos, okay, And so I know, sometimes
the chaos feels so overwhelming that the idea of finding
stillness seems impossible. And so maybe you've got kids running around,
or a busy job, or a million responsibilities that make
(12:02):
silence feel like a luxury that you cannot afford. But
here's what I really want you to remember. You can
find peace even in the chaos, and you don't have
to wait until your circumstances are perfect to find stillness.
And that was one of the biggest lies that I
had to overhaul myself and then with my clients as well.
(12:23):
Of this lie that it's like, oh, I have to
wait for better timing to find stillness or I have
to wait until things slow down or find peace to
get out of the chaos. And that is the biggest
lie of them all. And there's this beautiful verse in
Psalm forty six to ten that says, be still and
know that I am God. And here's what's so powerful
(12:45):
about that verse, Like God's not saying be still when
everything is perfect and quiet and you have no distractions, right,
He's saying, be still in the midst of it all,
knowing that I am God, even when your world it
feels like it's spinning out of control. And I know
it's a catch twenty two because it's like, leanne, I
don't have a moment to myself, and it's like, that's
(13:06):
exactly when you need to be still and let God
infiltrate your spirit. So instead of waiting for the perfect
time or the perfect circumstances, start practicing stillness right where
you are, even if it's just for a few moments.
And maybe that means just taking a deep breath in
your car before you walk into the house, or maybe
(13:28):
it means pausing for a moment in between meetings just
to close your eyes and say, God, I need you
right now, like, help me find your peace, let me
borrow your peace. Or maybe it's sitting in the bathroom
for a few extra seconds after your shower and letting
the steam settle around you, reminding yourself that God's presence
is always with you, even in the most ordinary moments,
(13:51):
and you don't need a silent room or an hour
of uninterrupted time. And in God's not asking you to
run off to a monastery, right He's asked you to
invite him into your real life and you're right now life.
Because it's in those little pauses and those tiny moments
of stillness that we start to experience His peace in
(14:13):
a very tangible way. It's like taking a sip of
cold water on a hot day. It refreshes and nourishes you,
even if it's just a few SIPs at a time.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
And then step four for me, I needed to create
my own sacred space for peace. Okay, So this one's
really important. It's about our nervous systems thrive with a
powerful environment. And our environment one of my favorite quotes
from one of my favorite neuroscientists is he says, your
brain becomes whatever it rests on. So it's like, what
(14:44):
environment is your brain resting on? So this one's important.
We need to talk about creating sacred spaces of peace
in your life because, let's be real, peace doesn't just
happen by accident. It's something that we have to cultivate intentionally.
And so ask yourself, what what are some places or
times or activities in your life where you can create
(15:04):
a sense of stillness and connect with God. And so
for some of you, that might mean finding a quiet
corner in your home that's just yours, like a place
where you can sit with your Bible or your journal
or just your own thoughts without distractions. And for others,
it might be creating a morning routine where you start
the day with a few minutes of silence and prayer
(15:24):
or meditation. And hey, if mornings aren't your thing, because
let's be honest, not everyone's a morning person, find another
time that works for you, like maybe during your lunch
break or right before bed. And here's a little trick
that's helped me, and this helps my clients a lot.
Pair your quiet moments with something that you already love
and that you're already doing. So maybe it's sitting on
(15:46):
your porch with a cup of tea, or taking a
slow walk around your neighborhood. Or maybe in the case
of doing something that you're already doing, it can literally
be putting on worship music while you brush your teeth.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Right.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
The point is to create small pockets of peace that
allow you to quiet your mind and.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Just be present with God.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
And so one of my clients, Joe, she used to
struggle with this, and she'd say, leanne, I don't have
time to sit around and be still, Like, I've got
a business to run, I've got kids to take care
of and a house to keep up. But what we
realize is that it wasn't about finding more time. It
was about creating space within the time that she already had. Like,
(16:26):
think about all the I pointed out to her. I
was like, let's look at all of the times that
you are literally spending going down rabbit holes of mindlessness
or even anxiety, and let's redirect that time. Let's take
back power from that mental real estate and fill that
same time with things that fill you up. And again,
it wasn't about finding more time, it was about creating
(16:49):
space within the time that.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
She already had. And so she started.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Integrating stillness into her existing routines. And she obviously we
had to carve this out in brains and figure out
what that was. But she would take a few moments
of silence right after dropping her kids off at school,
and she'd sit in the car and she'd take a
deep breath and she'd just let herself be with God
for a minute before driving off, or she'd use one
of the audios that I provide my clients. And guess what,
(17:16):
those few minutes made all the difference, because she didn't
need an hour, just a few moments. She felt calmer,
she was more centered, and she was more connected, and
that peace started to carry over into the rest of
her day. Okay, and then step five is really you
have to guard your mind and your spirit against unnecessary noise.
(17:38):
So once we've carved it out, you need to protect it.
And so here's the thing. If we're not careful, the
world's noise will creep right back in and steal our peace.
So we have to be intentional about guarding our minds
and spirits. It's like putting up a fence around your garden,
like you want to protect what's growing inside, right, And
so one practical way to do this is to really
(18:01):
just set some boundaries around what you let into your mind.
This is one of the first things I do with
my clients. But you know, taking a look at your habits,
like are you waking up and immediately reaching for your
phone or are you scrolling social media at every spare
moment or are you consuming content that leaves you feeling
drained and anxious or disconnected? And if so, it might
(18:21):
be time for a little detox. And I'm not saying
you need to quit social media or ditch your phone entirely,
Like we're not talking about extremes here, but.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
What if you just started your day without it?
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Like what if instead of scrolling first thing in the morning,
you spent the first few minutes in gratitude or prayer,
or what if you set a timer on your app
so that you're not mindlessly scrolling for hours? Or if
you're like me and you love having background noise, what
if you swapped out Netflix for worship music or a
podcast that uplifts you? Because what you feed your mind matters,
(18:56):
and what you allow in shapes your thoughts, your mood,
and your spirit. So I invite you to really be
intentional and choose wisely and don't let the world's chaos
steal your peace, Okay, And then the sixth and final
step is just you have to choose it. You have
(19:16):
to choose peace when life gets loud. And I really
want to be clear here, like creating peace does it
mean shutting yourself off from the world or pretending like
everything's roses and butterflies? Like life gets loud and things
happen and chaos hits us out of nowhere sometimes, and
that's totally okay.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
And so finding peace isn't about.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Controlling your circumstances. It's about choosing how you respond to them.
Are you reacting or are you responding most women, most
people are walking around reacting, right, And it's about saying Okay, God,
I am overwhelmed right now and there is a lot
going on and I don't feel peaceful. But I'm choosing
to trust you in the midst of it, and I'm
(19:55):
choosing to believe that you are my piece even when
it feels chaotic. And these are like there's some specific
tools around this that I teach my clients. But one
of the most beautiful examples I've seen of this was
from my client Maggie. And so, Maggie actually lost her
job unexpectedly and her entire life felt like it was
spiling out of control. And she told me like, Leanne,
(20:16):
I do not know how to find peace right now,
like everything feels so uncertain. And I didn't try to
sugarcoat it or give her some you know, cliche advice
like just trust God, It'll all be okay, you know. Instead,
I asked her, I asked her a powerful question instead
of telling her, I'm like, what would it look like
to invite God into this uncertainty? Like what would it
(20:36):
look like to find peace in the middle of the storm,
rather than waiting for everything to calm down. In other words,
it was about shifting her thoughts about her circumstances rather
than waiting for the circumstances to change her thoughts, because
that was totally out of her control.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
But her thoughts were in her control.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
So she took that question to heart, and instead of
running from her fear and anxiety, she starts inviting God
into it. And she'd pray like, God, I am scared
right now, I'm overwhelmed. I don't know what's coming next,
but I'm trusting you that you are with me in
this moment, like, show me your peace even in the unknown.
And day by day she started to feel that peace
(21:17):
settle over her, not because her circumstances magically changed overnight,
because her heart did, and she changed her mind and
her brain around it. And that's what I want for you,
my friend. I want you to know that peace isn't
the absence of noise or chaos.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
It's the presence of God in the midst of it.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
It's knowing that no matter what's going on around you,
and no matter how loud or overwhelming life gets, you
can find stillness and calm in His presence. And so
today I want to just leave you with this permission,
slip Okay, you have permission to quiet the noise and
you have permission to choose peace, and you have permission
(22:01):
to say no to the distractions and the chaos and
the overstimulation.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
And yes, say yes.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
You have my permission to say yes to the stillness
that your heart and soul is probably desperately craving. And
you don't have to live in a constant state of overwhelm,
and you don't have to let the world's noise drown
out God's voice. You can choose to create space for him,
and you can choose to turn down the volume on
(22:29):
everything else and turn up the volume on his love
and his grace and his peace, because I'm telling you,
when you do that, you'll always find it. So as always,
if this message spoke to you today, I'd love it
if you share it with somebody who might also need
to hear it, so that we can keep turning our
hearts and minds back to the one who is the
source of all true peace. And so thank you so
(22:52):
much for joining me today, And I'm praying for you
as you navigate the noise and create space for stillness
and peace in your life. And so until next week,
embrace the quiet, keep looking for God's peace in every moment,
because I promise you, if you look for it, you
will one thousand percent find it.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Okay, talk to you next time. Bye. We'll be back
with more What's God Got to Do with It?
Speaker 2 (23:19):
But in the meantime, I would definitely love to hear
from you, so just tell me where you are in
your story or maybe what questions you have, like where
do you feel you need clarity or support or wisdom
in your own journey. I definitely want to hear from you,
So head on over to What's God Got to Do
with It? Dot com and scroll down to the form
(23:40):
to share your thoughts, your questions, your feedback, and you
can do that instantly.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
So What's God Got to Do with It? Dot Com?
You'll find all the ways to do that.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
And if you like this podcast and want to hear more,
go ahead and follow, like, and subscribe wherever you listen
to podcasts to get your weekly dose of What's God
Got to Do with It? Episodes drop every single Tuesday,
and while you're there, be.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Sure to rate and review to show your support. It
really means so much. What's God Got to Do With It?
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Is an iHeartRadio podcast on the Amy Brown Podcast Network.
It's written and hosted by me Leanne Ellington, Executive produced
by Elizabeth Fozzio, post production and editing by Houston Tilley,
and original music written
Speaker 1 (24:25):
By Cheryl Stark and produced by Adam Stark
Host
Leanne Ellington
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com