Spiritual Disciplines: Silence and Solitude

Spiritual Disciplines: Silence and Solitude

Our lives are busy. They get hectic. When we find ourselves trying to juggle a full-time job, a family, chores at home, deadlines, community, and sleep (if there is even time left for that), it is easy to get overwhelmed, stressed out, and anxious. And when things inevitably begin to fall through the cracks, it only gets worse.

Christians are not immune to this either. Jesus’ last words before He ascended into Heaven, as recorded in Matthew 28:19–20, were, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” One of Jesus’ brothers said, in James 1:27, “True and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after widows and orphans in their distress.” When we really start to take our faith seriously, it can be very easy to look around at all the pain, suffering, and injustice in the world and feel guilty for stopping for even a moment to rest and relax. But we cannot take that burden fully on ourselves. There are literally billions of people who need help, whether they do not have access to clean drinking water, suffer from food insecurity, lack adequate housing, live in constant danger, or have been displaced from their homes. Most importantly, billions do not have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. But we cannot help billions of people. If we take on that burden, we will collapse under its weight.

Jesus set the example for us Himself. Throughout the Gospel accounts, Jesus frequently took breaks from feeding the poor, healing the sick, and teaching the lost to go off and spend time alone—alone by our standards, at least. In these times away from the crowds, away from the stress, away from the needs, Jesus spent intentional time in prayer with God. In these times of silence and solitude, He drew near to God and rested in His presence, allowing God to fill Him back up and rejuvenate Him, so He would be prepared to go back out and continue doing His Father’s work.

It was not just Jesus’ human side that did this. Going all the way back to the very beginning of the Bible, Genesis 2, we see that after God spent six days creating the universe and everything in it, He stopped on the seventh day and rested. When Moses was recording the 10 Commandments, he paused after the fourth command—the command to sabbath (or rest)—and gave an explanation for it. In Exodus 20:11, Moses writes, “For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.” Taking time to rest is not just a suggestion or a good idea—it is a direct command from God.

It is important to look at what rest is and what it is not, though. In our culture, it can be really easy to finally reach the weekend and spend six straight hours watching Netflix, playing video games, or scrolling on TikTok. But that is just more noise. And, if we are honest with ourselves, we will probably see that we are more tired afterward, and feel guilty about wasting the day and not getting anything we needed or wanted to done. Our culture also likes to define rest as going out shopping, grabbing drinks with friends, and other social activities. People, friends, and community are vitally important from both Christian and purely psychological perspectives. But let’s look at Jesus’ example again. He was not recorded going to markets to shop, to taverns with his friends, or to the latest play. There are at least nine occasions throughout the Gospels when Jesus withdraws to the wilderness or mountains to just be one-on-one with God.

Taking time to rest is not just a suggestion or a good idea—it is a direct command from God.

So, what does that look like for us? We may not need to go hike up a mountain once a week, but we should set aside intentional time to just be alone with God. That can look like getting up a little earlier to watch the sunrise at your home, retreating to a private room or closet, going for a drive out in the country, or any number of other things. As you experiment with this, you will probably find your own thing, your own place where you can truly connect with God. And what should you do in this quiet, private time with God? Pray, meditate, read Scripture, and maybe even fast—all spiritual disciplines we have talked about in the past several weeks.

As we close out this discussion on the practice of silence and solitude, let’s go back to that first verse we talked about, from the end of Matthew’s Gospel. We are called to go out into the world and do the work of the Father, but we need to make sure we have taken that time alone to get filled up with the Spirit. Why? There is one more sentence at the end, where Jesus says,: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

If you would like more information about resting in God, silence, and solitude, or if you would like prayer, you can reach out to us on our app or our website, experiencecc.com.