Be Still…

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Solitude is one of the most important disciplines for the spiritual life, especially for pastors and leaders who need help unhooking from ministry stress to experience God restoring their souls. As we prepare ourselves during these 40 days prior to Easter we can focus on many Bible verses on solitude to guide us in this practice.

*But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.” (Habakkuk 2:20)

* Find rest, O my soul, in God alone.” (Psalm 62:5)

*“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)

*Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35)

* Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”(Luke 5:16)

Solitude is not merely a therapeutic place. “Solitude is the furnace of transformation,” wrote Henri Nouwen in The Way of the Heart. “Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self. It is the place of conversion, the place where the old self dies and the new self is born, the place where the emergence of the new man and the new woman occurs. I am a social creature but I also realize that when I am alone I am at my most available to God.”

When was the last time you intentionally spent over an hour alone in solitude and silence for the purpose of detaching from the “amphetamines” of the world.  

Look at your calendar over this week. Look for a day that you could set aside one full hour when you can engage in Solitude and Silence. Maybe this weekend?

If it is not intentionally scheduled, it will likely never happen. Today is my day.

Your pastor and partner in ministry,

Kyle

Prayer Request:

Our hearts and prayers go out to Rosemary and Dennis Gallagher whose daughter was tragically murdered yesterday in Wisconsin.