“There are two dangers in life. First, there is the danger of a too constant activity. We cannot work without rest; and we cannot live the Christian life unless we give ourselves time with God. It may well be that the whole trouble in our lives is that we give God no opportunity to speak to us, because we do not know how to be still and to listen; we give God no time to recharge us with spiritual energy and strength, because there is no time when we wait upon him. How can we bear life’s burdens if we have no contact with him who is the Lord of all good life? How can we do God’s work unless in God’s strength? And how can we receive that strength unless we seek in quietness and in loneliness the presence of God?

“Second, there is the danger of too much withdrawal. Devotion that does not issue in action is not real devotion. Prayer that does not issue in work is not real prayer. We must never seek God’s fellowship in order to avoid human fellowship but in order to fit ourselves better for it. The rhythm of the Christian life is the alternate meeting with God in the secret place and serving one another in the marketplace.”

- William Barclay, The Gospel of Mark

Ordering Your Private World
Gordon MacDonald

“To bring order to one’s personal life is to invite His control over every segment of one’s life.”

“If my private world is in order, it will be because I am unafraid to be alone and quiet before Christ… If you and I ever have silence in our noisy hearts, we are going to have to grow it…”

“The spirit can never lose its eternal nature, but it can exist in a state of such disorganization that almost no communion with God is possible.”