Unrushed Living: Embracing Simplicity and Savoring Life's MomentsSample

Solitude: When the World is Loud

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” PSALM 46:10

It always surprised her, after she had done it, that it hadn’t occurred to her sooner. Slowing down. Being still. Remembering—intentionally recalling—the goodness of God in her life. Just a simple breath in, a sigh, a few moments of considering God, and she was restored. It always gave her the perspective she needed, which was that she herself was not God. She was His child, beloved, named, seen, and known.

How can you know what God is saying unless you make room for His voice? Sometimes we pray as though we’re in the food court in the mall at Christmastime, straining to hear the people we’re sitting at the table with while all the noise of the world happens around us. Sometimes we ask God a question while running at full speed, not sticking around long enough to hear if there’s an answer. Sometimes our own unbelief or sin stands in the way of what He would say. But how can we expect to hear Him while we’re intentionally holding Him at arm’s length, protecting ourselves or our own shortcomings because we’re too stubborn or scared to surrender? God isn’t stingy with His love, not at all. But He’s also not going to compromise and allow us to give Him less than our whole selves. He knows what we need most, and that’s to sit at His feet like Mary Magdalene, opening ourselves to His instruction and care. To mindfully come to Him openhanded, allowing the less-important things to slip through our fingers while He pours in grace, forgiveness, wisdom, and peace. Come to God, and He will come near to you.

God,

in the solitude I find with You, draw me into deeper intimacy. Remove the veils that separate us and let our connection be profound. As I share my heart with You, may I also listen attentively to Your whispers of love. In this sacred solitude, may the exchange of our spirits be a dance of profound closeness, shaping me more into Your likeness.

In Jesus’s name, Amen.