Hearing God in the place of silence and solitude

Hello world! Again I went on a retreat at Ashburnham before the Easter break and again I had such an incredible experience of communing with God. It became apparent to me on my last day there that when I get away from the busyness of life and I find a place of silence and solitude, I hear God more easily and clearly. It was such a lovely experience that I began to worry about leaving. I remember feeling a slight angst while thinking ‘oh no when I get back into the world everything I have received from my time with God will be sucked out or taken away. The busyness and distractions of life will choke it all away just like the parable of the sower Jesus told in Luke 8’. I was worried that when I reintegrated myself back into “the World", I would lose what I had experienced.

A few days after returning to “the World”, I was watching John Mark Comer’s course, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, the session on silence and solitude, there he mentioned that Jesus frequently went away to a place of solitude to be with His Father and He would go early in the morning and return later to be with the people, i.e. He returned to “the World”. That was it! I realised then that the answer to not losing what was cultivated in me at Ashburnham and to actually be an effective Christian, I needed to go to that solitary place frequently. It’s like maintaining a specific state through frequent fellowship with God. I also realised that I could have the same experience I had at Ashburnham even in my home. The experience I had was not about a specific geographic location, it’s about the practice of silence and solitude aka going into the secret place to pray to your Father God (see Matthew 6: 5-15). It’s about carving out a time to silence all the noise and be with God. Just being with Him. Not rushing off, not thinking about your to do list, but being present in the moment with Him. To be honest, achieving both internal (your thoughts) and external silence (your phone, TV, people etc) are much easier when you are in a remote far away place with no internet access. However, I believe we can learn and cultivate this practice of silence and solitude that Jesus modelled. He was intentional about getting away to a quiet place where all His attention could be on God. When we come back from being with God, we are refreshed and can go out and impact the lives of those we encounter - strangers, neighbours, colleagues, friends and family - as we go about our daily lives.

So, start where you are to practise communing with God through finding a place of silence and solitude. You could take 20-30 mins in the morning before anyone else is awake, to spend time with God and to talk to Him and to listen to what He wants to say to you that day. You could use 20-30 mins from your lunch break for this or even your commute home or take a walk. These could be moments when you practise silence and solitude.

Shalom Shalom dear friends (that means Perfect peace).