-Written By Larry Grine (Member and Community Group Host)-
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many changes to our social lives. Being alone so much more than usual can lead to feelings of loneliness. Staying secluded seems to some like being stuck in a solitary confinement cell. What should we do?
Motivational speakers say a lot of silly things, but one axiom that can be very helpful in times like these is to “see obstacles as opportunities.” Remaining at home and not seeing friends can be a drag, but it can also provide a chance to deepen your devotion to our loving Father, who seeks people to worship him in spirit and truth. Given all the commands to pray and the invitations to draw close to God, we can be assured the Bible teaches God’s desire for us to desire him! These remaining weeks of the statewide slowdown provide you with a wonderful opportunity to alter the way you view solitude, and to act on your commitment to put God first in your life and first each day.
The greatest value of solitude is the way it provides us an opportunity to be silent before God. Of course, just being alone doesn’t mean you will necessarily seek God’s face and listen more attentively to God’s voice. Many people are filling the void these days with more movies and margaritas, but overindulgence doesn’t lead to satisfaction. Rather than filling us, it just increases emptiness. It is only in God’s presence that we will find fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11).
To take advantage of solitude and hear from God, you must first turn off every competing voice and choose quiet over chaos. All of Psalm 46 is simply wonderful, but consider the seminal phrase in verse 10 – “Be still, and know that I am God.” When we allow alternative voices to grab our attention, we ignore God’s voice. Let’s cease striving, and still all that is within us so we can listen. There is tremendous competition for our attention, but we get to decide who or what wins!
At a pastor’s retreat, I heard a speaker named Richard Swenson. He’s a medical doctor who wrote a book called “Margin.” The title refers to that critical space needed between our lives and our limits. He said to be healthy we need to “seek out quiet. We need to counteract the conspiracy of noise.” The well-known author Chuck Swindoll was part of our group. He wrote, “Noise and crowds have a way of siphoning our energy and distracting our attention, making prayer an added chore rather than a comforting relief. Frenzied, hectic schedules dull our senses, closing our ears to his still, small voice and making us numb to his touch.”
That phrase, God’s “still, small voice” comes from an account in 1 Kings 19. The prophet Elijah was worn out and needed to learn a lesson. Look at verses 11 and 12 “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks 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 came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper (a still, small voice).”
We are surrounded and assaulted by noise these days but God is not in it. When God wants to appear, he is free to forgo the use of any spectacular means and speak quietly. He may sidestep the sensational methods of modern media and just whisper. If we don’t turn down the ambient volume of life, we won’t be able to hear him. Distractions are everywhere, even in our pockets. Our cell phones give us access to just about anything at anytime, but our dependence upon them can become addictive. Don’t assume all technological advances enhance your life. Instant information and communication do not free us, but tighten the shackles keeping us captive. The noise of our progress drowns God out. We’re enslaved; always available for any important call, text, tweet or chat, but unavailable to respond to the call of God. Let’s make sure that when God calls he doesn’t get a busy signal. There are times to turn it all off and tune in to him in seclusion and silence. Francois Fenelon wrote of the importance of being still before God. “Be silent, and listen to God. Let your heart be in such a state of preparation that his Spirit may impress upon you such virtues as will please him. This silence of all outward and earthly affection and of human thoughts within us is essential if we are to hear his voice.”
I recently wrote a blog on fasting. Fasting is temporarily saying no to something good to say yes to something better. Many people are setting aside certain times to fast from digital technology. Taking a break will help you assess your level of addiction and free yourself from bondage. The world will keep spinning if we put our phones in a drawer for a while. And, just to be sure, lock the drawer! You’ve heard for your whole Christian life about the value of a regular, uninterrupted quiet time with God each day. Don’t compromise that time with God by constantly checking your phone. Eliminate the distraction for certain periods of the day.
Jesus distanced himself from distractions in order to be with his Father alone. Hans has been leading us through the Gospel of Mark. Remember the first chapter? It doesn’t open with a long genealogy, a birth narrative, or a theological explanation like the other three accounts do, it just gets down to business and fast-forwards to the beginning of Christ’s public ministry, recording his baptism, his temptation, his preaching ministry, his call of the disciples, his deliverance of a man, and his power to heal a woman, all in the first 31 verses! The end of a long, busy day is described in verses 32 and 33. “That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door…” There was so much to do. An endless parade of needs demanded Christ’s attention. After a day like that, I’d think he would want a good night’s sleep. But look at Mark 1:35 – “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.” No one has ever had more important work to do than Jesus did. But even though the needs were endless, he prioritized his time with the Father.
Jesus not only modeled this practice, he instructed his disciples to follow his example. Like him, they faced many demands and needed to be refreshed. Remember Mark 6:30-32? “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.” Only when your surroundings and your soul are silenced will you find refreshment. I love Isaiah 30:15 - “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” This material is so rich; it would take another blog or two to unpack these treasures.
Most Christians will say that God is their top priority, but our real priorities are demonstrated in our actions. Our behavior reveals our values. No matter how much you say you like hiking in the mountains, if you can hike but don’t, then maybe you don’t prioritize hiking as highly as watching shows about hiking. It is embarrassing what our actual time expenditure says about what we really want. What I want to want is to yearn for God like David did, like a deer panting for water (Ps 42). I long to long to be in God’s presence (Ps 84). I want to graduate from crying out to God to crying out for God. For that, I will need to tune in to God alone. Brennan Manning wrote: “Take time out from family, friends, career, ministry, even ‘doing good’ to enter into the great silence of God. Alone in that silence, the noise within will subside, and the voice of love will be heard. Without such silence we will drown in the inner cacophony of dialogues, encounters, meetings, discussion, and conferences where there is much speaking and little listening.”
Many of us have experienced tension about the lack of time we spend with God. We’re aware of the importance of quiet time, but we admit we neglect it. For many of us, the resulting lack of intimacy with the Lord is not a conscious choice, but a byproduct of our difficulty focusing in prayer and Bible study. We know the value of uninterrupted time with God but we can’t sit still long enough for much of a relationship to develop. Prayer can be reduced to a rushed monologue – just a rocket shot into the air, never a meaningful conversation. Preoccupations pressure us to the point that we just present our requests like a grocery list and get on to other things. Gordon MacDonald wrote, “One can easily envision that our modern culture has been guided, in an evil sense, to deny us the necessary silence to move toward authentic prayer, since Satan hates to see us on our knees before God. Television, incessant musical backgrounds, cell phones, the visual chatter of our computers and our network of relationships are not inducements to silence. If we succumb to the seduction of noise, we will never experience prayer.”
We have a hard time with just “being” in the presence of God. Someone once reminded me that we are human beings not human doings. Even so, we may need some suggestions concerning what to “do” in order to “be.” I recently encouraged the members of our group to consider adopting a plan of reading five Psalms a day. Using this approach, you get through the whole Book of Psalms in a month. I hesitate to write the words, “get through,” because that is how some of us look at our time with God; we just want to hurry through it as quickly as possible and get it over with. Contemplation, meditation and reflection all take time. Let’s not slip into regarding our Bible reading as a chore to check off the list. If that is all we want then that is all we will get. When that is the way we approach God, then we will not be approaching God at all. If you want to try this Psalm-reading method, be sure to read deliberately, maybe aloud, and don’t rush. Chew your food. Interact with God as you read. Go beyond reading the Psalms and begin to pray them. To foster intimacy in any relationship there must be communication. Interact with the Author. We so desperately need him. I have a passage from Ps 62 written on a 3X5 card displayed on the dashboard of my truck. I glance at it to be reminded of my dependence upon God. Ps 62:5 –“My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him.” Waiting is tough and silence is even harder. I need more practice.
My personal example is not a flawless success story; over the years, I have been a fellow struggler. I have not arrived, but I have modeled some movement in the right direction. For me, the solutions have not been easy to implement. I’m still learning to sit quietly at the feet of Jesus. Like many of you, I’m easily distracted; my attention easily wanders. (Look, a squirrel!) Up until a few years ago I seldom settled down long enough to concentrate on the Lord alone. I’ve had to force myself to focus on the Lord. Can you relate? My disappointment over this tendency to multitask myself into a frenzy of frenetic activity led me to passionately pursue change. And change is possible for us all. Use these remaining stay-at-home weeks to meet with God like you never have before, and step up to a new level in your relationship with him.
Remember this: when things eventually open back up again, you’ll be tempted to return to normal. Don’t. Don’t tolerate returning to a rut; leave “normal” behind in the rearview mirror of life. Pursue your new pattern of getting alone with God. Seclusion affords silence, which is a means of gaining God’s perspective and experiencing God’s peace. Always keep adequate quiet time in your daily schedule to hear the still small voice of God.