Solitude (Psalm 46:10)
If there was one spiritual discipline that ever seemed impossible, I’d venture to say it was solitude.
Have we ever lived in such a connected day and age? We now have cell phones that we use for live video with people around the world, sending high definition videos in a matter of seconds to anyone in the world, and using it to find information about any person, place or thing under the sun. Ironically, we seem to use our phones for everything but making phone calls. We now have social media that seems to suck us in to believing that we’re connected with hundreds or thousands of people at once...also conveniently accessible from our cell phones. We live in communities full of people. We work in places full of people. We have families with whom we are rarely separate from. If this is our reality, how could the spiritual discipline of solitude even be relevant to our lives today?
In Psalm 46:10, we see a simple yet profound truth of how solitude is relevant to our lives. While much more could be said of this powerful little verse, here are a few initial thoughts.
1. “Be Still...” – this is a command to stop moving and probably stop speaking in order to...
2. “...know that I am God” – this is an intentional effort to acknowledge, adore and praise who God is as well as reflecting on who we are in relation to Him.
This one verse seems to go against the very existence of mankind these days.
When was the last time you were silent and alone with God? When was the last time you intentionally got away from everyone and everything specifically to meditate on God, the gospel, and how good of a Father He is? This is what the discipline of solitude is all about.
As if practicing solitude wasn’t hard enough, I believe the Enemy is also working overtime to confuse the Truth of God’s Word in our lives. This pattern of the Enemy is not new; he is always seeking to add a question mark, or a comma, where God has put a “period”.
So, what does the Enemy want us to do and believe instead of the truth of Psalm 46:10?
- Be busy, and forget that He is God
- Be busy, and think that you are God
- Be busy, and never know that He is God
Can you relate to any of the above lies the Enemy has sown into the very DNA of our “busy culture”?
I’ll be the first to admit that solitude seems impossible and also is a discipline that I’m not great at. Yet, interestingly, this discipline is seen very clearly in the life of Jesus all throughout the gospels during His ministry and with the disciples (Matthew 4:1-11, Matthew 14:23, Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16).
Join us Sunday morning at 11am as we look more at Jesus, our ultimate Example, and seek to apply the truth of God’s Word to our lives in the area of practicing the discipline of solitude.
For the Kingdom,
Pastor Brett