QUIET YOURSELF
If you're married you probably wake up each day with your spouse and you both scramble to get breakfast, get ready for work, get the kids off to school, and get to the office on time where you spend the day in the company of your co-workers, then you come home at night to a family who needs your attention or you socialize with friends or you come to church and then at the end of the day you fall asleep in a heap so that you can repeat the process tomorrow. That's the way it is, and it probably won't change until you're ready to retire — but in the midst of this hectic lifestyle you can learn to make time alone, and to make the most of your time alone.
Even in your busy schedule, you can squeeze out moments of solitude here and there. Maybe you can get up a few minutes before everyone else. Or stay up a few minutes later than everyone else. (By the way, if you have teenagers, getting up first is a lot easier than going to bed last.) Or maybe you have time alone on the way to and from work. Or maybe you can have lunch alone. Or maybe you can slip into an empty room in the evening when everyone else is watching TV. With some effort you can make time alone, but you also need to make the most of your time alone.
Do you remember how it was in high school? The bell would ring and it was time to switch classes, the halls would be packed with students and your girlfriend would meet you at your locker so you could walk her to class. Those two or three minutes meant everything, didn't they? It made Geometry bearable, didn't it? That's the habit you need to get into with God, seizing those opportunities when you can have five minutes here, fifteen minutes there, alone with him. And just like when you would try to make the most of that "date" between classes, you need to learn to make the most of your moments alone with God. You do that like David said, “I have calmed and quieted myself…” (Psalm 131:2).
The first thing that you need to do when we get alone with God is stop. Just stop. Be still for a moment. Wait. David wrote, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.” (Psalm 130:5)
When you get alone with God, stop. Wait. Be still. You may have only five minutes at a time, or thirty minutes at a time. Or maybe you have a few hours. Or maybe you find yourself in a situation where you have days of solitude. The process is the same. Get alone with God be still and quiet yourself. Forget about everything but him. Let him begin to bring peace to your soul.
Even in your busy schedule, you can squeeze out moments of solitude here and there. Maybe you can get up a few minutes before everyone else. Or stay up a few minutes later than everyone else. (By the way, if you have teenagers, getting up first is a lot easier than going to bed last.) Or maybe you have time alone on the way to and from work. Or maybe you can have lunch alone. Or maybe you can slip into an empty room in the evening when everyone else is watching TV. With some effort you can make time alone, but you also need to make the most of your time alone.
Do you remember how it was in high school? The bell would ring and it was time to switch classes, the halls would be packed with students and your girlfriend would meet you at your locker so you could walk her to class. Those two or three minutes meant everything, didn't they? It made Geometry bearable, didn't it? That's the habit you need to get into with God, seizing those opportunities when you can have five minutes here, fifteen minutes there, alone with him. And just like when you would try to make the most of that "date" between classes, you need to learn to make the most of your moments alone with God. You do that like David said, “I have calmed and quieted myself…” (Psalm 131:2).
The first thing that you need to do when we get alone with God is stop. Just stop. Be still for a moment. Wait. David wrote, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.” (Psalm 130:5)
When you get alone with God, stop. Wait. Be still. You may have only five minutes at a time, or thirty minutes at a time. Or maybe you have a few hours. Or maybe you find yourself in a situation where you have days of solitude. The process is the same. Get alone with God be still and quiet yourself. Forget about everything but him. Let him begin to bring peace to your soul.
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