I woke up floating in the still and quiet darkness of another day consumed by this thought:
We are programming SILENCE out of existence.
That’s bad on its face. But for me the tragedy of losing silence is how it jeopardizes our ability to live out the spiritual imperative of having SOLITUDE with GOD.
Why is pulling that off so difficult?
Because many Christians look at SOLITUDE with God as a destination in and of itself; instead of realizing it’s a destination we need to pass through on our way back onto the highway of life.
We go to God every day with an open heart…open mind…and open hands. We seek discernment and direction from his Word. We share our sinful slips and awesome aspirations. Then, armed with all that truth and power, we go back into the world and live life. Applying what we learned and paying attention to new developments, circumstances, and challenges as they pop up.
Then, the next day, we go back to God with all that new, fresh perspective and repeat the process of seeking his mind and sharing our heart. Then back out the next day to learn some more. Then back to SOLITUDE with God. And the cycle never stops.
We need to find that “desolate place” of SOLITUDE like Jesus did and pray (Mark 1:35). And then we must RETURN to the world’s whir and live out the purpose God has submitted to our soul.
There is no victory in taking our silence into a room UNLESS we use it as an opportunity to sit in SOLITUDE with God and open our soul, fill our heart, and discern our direction (Matthew 6:6).
Silence is our soothing counter to the world’s bone-rattling noise in the 21st Century’s sound machine. What started as a nuisance to avoid has turned into an addiction we can’t live without.
All this new noise has only increased the importance of what has been an imperative for 2000 years—the need to find silence and solitude with ourselves and, most importantly, with God.
Mindlessness in solitude? Sure. That’s healing and restorative. But finding silence in solitude is to help us “hear” God speaking directly to us without having to pass through the MOAT of noise and distractions we have erected around our mind and heart.
I ask God to help me cancel out the world’s noise and make room for daily respites in solitude with him.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Do you find time every day to break from the world’s noise and be quiet with God?
“At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them.” Luke 4:42
