Whether you are at a breaking point, or just wanting to establish healthy disciplines, spending time in solitude and silence is key.
Do you enjoy being alone? Do you like to spend time by yourself?
Not everyone enjoys solitude. More extroverted people prefer the company of others to feel alive.
But whether it comes naturally to you or not, spending some time in solitude is important for everyone, because it allows God to meet you where you are. Even Jesus knew and practised this:
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
In 1 Kings 19 we read how circumstances forced Elijah into a place of solitude.
As a prophet of Israel, he had just performed several miracles, including what was perhaps the culmination of his entire prophetic ministry. During an impressive showdown between Elijah and 450(!) Baal prophets, Elijah set out to prove that Israel’s God was the one true God. He set up a contest that ended with God sending down fire from heaven and all of Israel falling on their faces, acknowledging Him as the only true God. The Baal prophets tried to run away, but Elijah caught up with them and killed them all.
When we catch up with Elijah in 1 Kings 19, he is exhausted from the outpouring of spiritual, physical, and emotional energy this confrontation had required. On top of that, his life is in danger after what he did to the prophets, and he is deeply afraid. He is in the throes of the kind of major letdown that often comes when we have given everything we’ve got. There was literally nothing he could do but collapse. Alone.
Most of us are probably not at such a breaking point (yet). We are still fairly functional, trying to keep things under control.
Whether you are at a breaking point, like Elijah, or just wanting to establish healthy, spiritual disciplines in your life, spending time in solitude and silence is key.
A great place to start is my reading plan, Solitude & Silence on the YouVersion Bible App.
