I woke up to blessed quiet. It had been many weeks — almost two months — of noises in the attic awakening me or scuffling between my office walls and the outside brick frustrating and distracting me. My sons and I couldn’t determine its identity.

One morning the noises sounded like someone moving furniture. Several days the sound of a golf ball repeatedly dropping and rolling tested my patience.

We set out to find an opening and finally found a hole under an eave in the roof, assuming the squatter must be a raccoon. Upon further inspection, we found the insulation had been patted down by the critter’s many trips across the attic floor. Plus, the air duct was detached in two places! So, instead of cooling my house in the 107-degree Louisiana heat, I had been cooling the attic for our attic resident. I can just imagine him sitting up there in between the two sections of the air duct and enjoying all that cold air.

After patching up the hole, we set a borrowed trap in the attic. After a week and even one instance where the raccoon outsmarted the trap, he unexpectedly took the bait and landed in raccoon jail. Our unwanted visitor was then taken to his new home in the woods.

That attic situation was quite the experience.

So I’m grateful for a quiet house on a lazy Saturday morning. I’m grateful for cool air and a son who didn’t complain even once about checking the trap three times a day.

What’s in your attic?

What’s in your attic? Hopefully, it’s not something wreaking havoc and causing destruction.

However, sometimes, it’s our own thoughts that do exactly that.

What keeps you up at night or awakens you in the early morning hours? What is that constant worry that keeps you in a state of disarray? What is the fear that won’t give you peace? Or the nagging voice that distracts you from your life’s purpose?

Jesus brought calm to the chaos and peace in the storm. He spoke healing to the helpless and provided plenty to the hungry. He spent time with the outcasts as well as the prominent. He made himself available to men and women alike, and cherished children. He taught, he prayed, he wept, he loved.

And he does that for us too. We can rest at night knowing that He is in control and He’s available.

Who fights your battles?

There is an account in scripture that reminds us where to place our trust. It’s an unusual one to discuss trust, but I love what King Jehoshaphat says when enemy armies were about to invade.

2 Chronicles 20:12

We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.

That is the answer for us too. No matter the pressure you’re feeling in life right now, put your eyes on Jesus. If the walls seem to be closing in, or something is causing destruction in your attic, remember He is there.

2 Chronicles 20:17 also reminds us of God’s provision. When facing a battle, He told the people of Judah not to do anything.

You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, tomorrow go out against them and the LORD will be with you. 2 Chronicles 20:17 (ESV)

And I love their response. They praised and sang BEFORE the LORD delivered them. God caused their enemies to destroy each other. By the time Judah got there, all they needed to do was pick up the spoils. Don’t you love that?

I do not know what battle you might be facing, or what the Lord might require of you, but I do know this. With Jesus by your side, you cannot lose.