Mark 1:35 says “…And in the early morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there.”
Is it hard for you to find a quiet place?
Think about the first time someone said these special words to you: “I love you”. Those three words are powerful , but the power doesn’t come from how loudly they were spoken or from how many people heard them, does it? The power comes from your affection for the person who is saying the words. The power comes from your own confidence in knowing that the words are true. The noise and the audience don’t make it memorable. In fact, private settings are often more meaningful to genuine expressions of love. Expressing love makes you vulnerable, so private expressions of love feel safer and more protected.
If you think of some of the most meaningful moments in your life, many of them were probably very quiet and very private…that first declaration of love, the marriage proposal, your first moments alone with your new baby, maybe the final moments alone with a dying loved one…all very private moments alone in quiet places.
As our world changes and our culture shifts, we see more and more private moments going public – engagements captured on video and posted on YouTube; marriage proposals in stadiums for all to see on the Jumbotron; the declarations of love via flashmobs, and every moment of our lives displayed on social media for all the world to see. Technology allows us to multi-task to the point that we can fill every waking moment with posting, clicking, blogging, texting, or some form of being “connected.”
Are we allowing ourselves time to connect with God?
Are we building in the quiet places where we can hear His voice and meditate on His word? I find it very hard to get to a quiet place – and harder still to feel comfortable for very long once I get there. I have been conditioned by our world to rush; I need to ask Jesus to let me hear His still small voice and condition me to respond to it quickly. He doesn’t usually shout to get our attention.
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