Sanctuary: Cultivating a Quiet Lifeنموونە

Day #2: Where the Answer Is Found

These days a social-media sabbatical is nothing new. Taking a break or “fasting” from social media is a growing trend and for good reason. We are changed for the better when we look to truth more than YouTube. But if we could fix the tiredness in our souls or the disinterest in our hearts with periodic breaks from social media, then that’s all we would need to do—schedule ourselves some routine breaks. But we can’t fix ourselves. Life doesn’t work that way.

The answer isn’t simply in taking a break from social media, although it’s not a bad idea for a lot of reasons. The real answer is in the words of the ancient prophet Isaiah, who said, “You will be delivered by returning and resting; your strength will lie in quiet confidence” (Isaiah 30:15).

By “returning,” the prophet means repenting. When we repent from looking to earthly means to fill us and return to God as our sole life-sustaining source, we experience the genuine rest our hearts need.

Maybe you have struggled with the number of hours you spend each day on your phone. Or maybe social media hasn’t had that much pull over you. Maybe your struggle is with something else. It will be different for each of us. But the starting point is the same for everyone. To experience a quiet heart that is truly at rest in Christ, we must first repent of looking to anything other than God to satisfy us.

Finding sanctuary begins with repentance: acknowledging that we can’t fix the malaise that plagues our souls. But God can, and our confidence rests in him alone.

Cultivate

Is there an area in your life about which you feel a deep sense of dread or unease at the thought of giving it up? Write down any areas in your life that come to mind. Then consider whether or not these might be things or people you lean on more than God. If so, ask God for his forgiveness and bask in the knowledge that when “we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). In doing this, you are, in effect, “returning and resting,” just as Isaiah prescribed, and inviting God to take it from there.