Monday: SILENCE!

When is the last time you have been all alone, no one people, no music, no homework, no media, nothing? Are you comfortable being by yourself? Meaning when you're waiting on someone, eating by yourself, waiting for class to start how long does it take for you to flip out you phone to "text" someone, check the time or shove some headphones into your ears? We are surrounded in a world of business, a world of efficiency, doing as much as you can in as little time possible. Not only do we have fast food restaurants so we can eat on the run but to make it even quicker we have made drive-thru's so you don't even have to get out of your car. Most students can hardly do fifteen minutes of homework without flipping to facebook, turning on some music or texting a friend. We are so busy and surrounded by both audio and visual noise.

What we don't realize is how much we need to get away in silence and solitude. In Psalm 46:10a the psalmist writes:

Be still and know that I am God

This is so important that we get away from the noise around us on a regular basis and just be still, know that God is God and that He loves and cares for us. It is in these times where we can hear God direct us and tell us His will for God does not always come in the obvious ways. Just as with Elijah God may come to us in a gentle breeze instead to the mighty fire or earthquake. We come to God daily with many prayers and requests but how often do we listen for an answer? It's good to be reading the Word and be praying, but we also need to take time just to be still in absolute silence thinking, listening and watching for God.

We spend more time complaining about things in our lives then we do praying about them. How many times have you told your friends about something you were concerned about this week? How much time did you spend bringing it before God? We thrive off noise, not many times can a group of people be quiet without someone quickly cracking a joke. Silence makes us uncomfortable and feel awkward. I think this is because silence causes us to think and many of us are afraid to think. We need to learn to thrive off solitude. Jesus spent so much time going off on His own to pray. If something like this was so important for Him then it certainly is important for us! Take some time this week, get away from your everyday routine, go somewhere quiet where you are all alone and spend time in prayer, meditation and just sitting still. It will be awkward at first but if you stay long enough you will begin to realize how much you need solitude and time alone. This is where your character and who you are is developed, when no one is around.

Challenge: Sometime over the next week find ONE HOUR where you can get away from everything around you (go for a walk on liberty mountain, go to the quiet study room in the clab with a coffee, even wake u an hour before your roommates or stay up an hour later) to be in solitude. After you have prayed about everything you can think of and thought about everything on your mind, stay. Be still.

Now go do it! You won't regret it!