6/24/2004

SOLITUDE

Before I go any further with this serious subject, there are a few questions I must ask.

1. If I wear my faith on my sleeve, will it wash off when it rains?
2. Will Jesus come back on a storm cloud, or a big, white, fluffy one?

There! Got that out of my system.

Solitude. What is it? Why do we "have" to do it? What's the big deal? I read my bible, go to church, do all the "right" things, right?

Solitude is a time when we withdraw from the company of others in order to give God our undivided attention. John Ortberg

Solitude is not exactly the same thing as "quiet time", which is another practice "Christians" use, or try to use, on a daily basis. Quiet time often equals Lectio Divina, which is translated "sacred reading". Another way to say that is meditative reading of scripture. Solitude is somewhat different, although you may begin your solitude by reading a few verses from scripture to put your mind in the right place to meet with God.

Solitude means removing yourself from everything, all noise, all people, all activities, anything that can "divide" the attention you give to God. Looking at the world around us, you might think solitude would be way more difficult to enter into than "quiet time". However, if you have that assumption, you are probably wrong. Solitude is prayer, only it is Spirit-led prayer.

In a world crowded with noise and flashing lights, and loud people, solitude is one thing that can change our entire walk with Jesus. By its very definition, solitude (Spirit-led prayer) means we are quiet and alone, and we allow the Spirit to lead us. Can you understand why Satan might not think that is such a good thing? Look around you again. See all the flashing lights, hear all the loud noises and people? Bingo!

Although many believers, especially extroverts, avoid this primary discipline of the faith, the spiritual cost in doing so is great. Even a casual look at the Gospels reveals that solitude was an indispensable practice in the life of the Lord Jesus (see Matthew14:23, Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16, John 6:15) Kenneth Boa...Conformed To His Image

Satan wants you to be busy. He wants you to have people around you at all times, noises going, the television set on, whatever he can use so that it is just too loud and too busy for you to hear the voice of God. What will God say to you, I wonder? Many people struggle with their prayer life, thinking, "God never seems to answer my prayers", or "I don't get any guidance from God." Some of this may be due to the absence of silence and solitude in their lives. If we don't give God a chance to speak to us, how can we ever hear Him?

Notice that Kenneth Boa calls solitude a discipline. There's that "D" word! Guess what, Jesus practiced solitude. If we claim to follow Jesus, then its okay to practice the things He did without worrying about whether we are getting caught up in "methods and traditions". Jesus also celebrated the Passover, a Jewish tradition from the time of Moses. So, not all tradition is bad. Likewise, not all discipline is bad. It is a discipline because sometimes it takes discipline to practice it.

Let's put that in a way that maybe we all can recognize a little easier. We keep appointments with doctors, right? We keep appointments with our friends for dates, dinner, or just plain fun, right? If God is our father, our healer, our savior, and our friend, how much more so should we make and keep appointments with Him? But, the "D" word is there, staring at us all of the time, and we don't always like anything that we think we "have" to do.

This may help. You don't have to do it. It's your choice, as always. Before we even try to do it once, we need to change our attitude about it. This isn't a duty, or a job. It's a privelege. Think about this. You get to hear, and speak in the presence of the Almighty God, the unseen one, your maker, your redeemer, the One Whose thoughts and ways are higher than our thoughts and ways. This is God!

Do you remember as a child looking up to someone older and maybe wiser than you? Do you remember how you sought their attention, their approval? Was this not a relationship you really wanted to have, one that you enjoyed very much? One maybe that even shaped your life?

Then there's God. He's always there, you can't be separated from Him. He patiently awaits your attention, your love, your time. Yet we are the ones who need Him, long to hear Him, long to see Him, and know Him. He is the ultimate relationship of our lives, and here He is, just waiting for us. Haven't you always wanted that kind of relationship? This isn't a bad thing, it's a very, very good thing.

For men, God is the best friend they ever had who will always go wherever we are. For women, God is the ultimate husband, always listening, never interrupting, patient and kind through changes in appearance, old age, and mistakes. For both, no matter how we look, or act, no matter the mistakes we make, if we believe, He will always be there, loving us just the same. Isn't that an appointment worth keeping? Even psychologists aren't that good, and they charge you money just so you can hear them babble. God is so much better than a psychologist, that to mention the two in the same sentence seems sinful.

Do you want to know why so many are rebelling against the "traditional" church? Because the "traditional" church is boring! It is filled with things that have become meaningless, chants, and rituals that are no longer pleasing to God, because they are words uttered with their lips, while their hearts are far from Him. Do you want to know why people don't like solitude, and "quiet" time, and "devotions"? Because we have been told that these things have to be boring! I will not apologize for saying this, if you want to live with a boring God, go ahead, but for me, no thank you!

God is life! He is not death! He is not ritual, or chanting, or image-driven dribble. He is God! The same God that made volcanoes made you. The same God who made kittens and puppies made you. The same God who made color made you. God didn't have to give us color, He could have given us black and white, and we wouldn't have known the difference. God is Boring?! No way!

No wonder "discipline" is such a dirty word in this new generation, when all you get out of God is boredom! I assure you, God is not boring. Look at the one-liners Jesus zinged at the Pharisees on the spot. What journalist or Hollywood writer wouldn't give his or her left arm to be able to respond with such quips and answers, on the spot?! Jesus didn't have hours to write a column, or months and years to write a book, He responded immediately, and left his accusers and questioners with nothing to say! Is that boring? Can you do it? None of us can! Shake off that old preacher or relative, or mentor who taught you that God was boring. It's not true!!

The same God who created humor, also created worship. The same God who created up-times also created down times. If He did so, don't you think there's a good reason? Would He ever tell you to do something that was bad for you? If we believe He uses all things to the good of those who love Him, then why must we believe He is boring!?

Solitude, quiet time, Lectio Divina, it doesn't matter what it is. There will be nothing but boredom in it for us if we expect it to boring. But, before we expect it to be boring, let's please just remember Who we are talking about, okay? We are not talking about some politician, or some preacher who left his personality at seminary. We are talking about God! If he made humor, how much more humorous is He than us? If He made excitement and thrills, how much more thrilling must He be?

Solitude can only happen alone, and only in silence. It is literally Spirit-led prayer. Begin by just asking the Holy Spirit to lead you where He wants to take you, and then just let go, and enjoy the ride. If you truly let go, I promise you, your ride will be anything but boring. You will be amazed at all the places He takes you. With Him, there is no boundary, or border. Neither Communism nor democracy means anything to Him. There is no place He cannot take you, no thing He cannot show you, no word He cannot speak to you.

Quiet time is time spent alone with God, but it doesn't necessarily have to be silent. Quiet time is misnamed. Let it just be time. You can spend time in solitude, and quiet time, laying down before you sleep, or driving your car, or just sitting in a chair alone. Quiet time is not necessarily the same as scripture reading, but it can be used as time to do just that. But "quiet time" is where we talk to God, and He talks to us. It is the times we possibly learn the most about God, and from Him. And here is a truth: You cannot love someone well if you do not know them well. If you want to love God well, then you have to get to know Him, and that means you have to use what He has given you to reveal Himself to you. One of those things is His Word. Another is prayer. We have no better way of discerning the Will of God than through prayer, and specifically, Spirit-led prayer (solitude). But when you do these things, do them with an expectancy of the amazing, because the God you love is an amazing God. He is most definitely, absolutely, the most exciting being you will ever be around!!! Treat your time with Him as if He is. Fire yourself up!! If we change the way we approach our time with God, our time with God will be changed, I promise.

I will continue this tomorrow, incorporating quiet time and scripture a little more. Also, I'll touch on what to do to approach solitude, and how we actually do it. Thanks. Oh yeah, please answer the two questions I asked at the long ago beginning of this post. Bye bye.



6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I feel that, as soon we HAVE to do something to have relationship with God, it has the potential to actually diminish our relationship. HAVE TOs can easily turn into "systems", systems can easily turn into "religion", religion can easily turn into an obesession that can divert us away (or even act as a subsitute) from our goal, which is Christ.

True relationship is what it is. It doesn't have to be "worked at", it just exists. It's a gift from God and centers on the work Father and Son did on that cross 2000 years ago.

But, if a mechanical means of ritual and discipline help us come to that realization of true relationship, I guess the ends justify the means. But, I have seen the danger of rituals coming into our lives as a direct conflict of the relationship it's supposed help us build.

I believe that truth in relationship frees us to do what we see our Father doing. He is not predictable. He is not tame. He does what he wants to do, and when he wants to do it. He does good, and he does what's right, and he does it at the perfect time. That kind of life calls for freedom from binding ritual. It calls for flexibility and the ability to "move" at a moment's notice. A life "compartmentalized" is a life restricted to the regimen of the schedule. When our schedule interferes with God's schedule, what kind of "disciple" are we being?

Well, I'm rambling now. Must get back to work...

I'm not arguing with you at all, but just hoped to explain my point of view. You explained yours very well, and I'm afraid my explanation falls short of conveying my heart fully. But, it gives you an idea of what's on my mind and heart. Thanks for hearing me, bro!

Warm blessings and love to you!

Bruce

Tom Reindl said...

Bruce,

I agree with you regarding the relationship aspects verses the "ritual". But don't you think we rebel against the "ritual" partially because it is "sold" as boring?

Just as God's mercy and grace are new every day, so too can be our relationship with Him, as well as how we "relate" to Him. I believe Jesus involved Himself in many of the old Jewish traditions exactly because He knew what they were about fully. This is our problem, we do not know what feasts and celebrations really are supposed to be about, but I think if we look up the definition of feast or celebration, ritual won't be a word used to describe them.

I understand the fear (maybe wariness is a better word) of "ritual". But, time spent with God is a celebration, and a feast, not a ritual, and until we change our attitudes about these times, we won't be too willing to make time for them.

Example: If I like eating at a certain restaurant, or cheering for my favorite football team (Green Bay Packers, yes!!!!), then I make time to enjoy it. If, however, I find football boring, why would I bother watching it? The fact is, I wouldn't. Time spent in solitude has been for me a thrill, not a ritual. You cannot possibly imagine where the Holy Spirit all takes you until you've "practiced" letting Him, and we must "practice" letting Him, because otherwise, naturally we are flesh-led, and we won't go to God being led by the flesh.

I respect your position, but is it possible that you have this aversion to what you term "ritual" exactly because you have found it to be tedious, and more like work than a celebration? The Bible is filled with examples of feasts and celebrations, and nobody parties like the Jews partied. Somehow, in the beginning, I don't think they had to "try" real hard to celebrate God. But as you have stated, the meaning of the celebration got lost, and the "ritual" took over. That is nothing more than our flesh trying to be autonomous of God, trying to squeeze a ritual out of a joyous tradition.

The first thing I wanted to do was disprove the idea that all things God are boring, because so many have that ingrained in their minds, and can't seem to shake it. The next thing is to learn how to enjoy God. I said it last night, and I'll say it again, we cannot love someone well if we don't know then well, it's impossible. God loves us perfectly because He knows us perfectly. Jesus said to the evildoers, "Away from me, I never knew you." God's response to someone who won't take the time to get to know him is exactly that, and that shouldn't induce feelings of guilt when we begin to learn just how awesome and exciting God is.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you completely. The area we're differing on is minor. I'm talking about the act "scheduling" relationship.

My best friend and I are close. We get together often, and I find nothing boring or tedious about hanging out with him. We do celebrate our time together. It's always wonderful and fresh. We look forward to the chance encounters, and sometimes we get together because something's going on that compels us to meet.

Now, if I took a sweet, free, pure, geniune relationship like that, and began placing "rules" on it, the bond could, and probably would, suffer. If I said, "OK friend, in order to strengthen our relationship, and build tighter bonds with each other, we must meet every weekday morning from 7am until 8:30. No matter what else is going on in our lives, we commit to meet. We appreciate each other THAT much! That's seven and a half hours a week that is dedicated to just us, and we are seriously bound to it."

Sounds good huh? But, what happens when the "things of life" begin to interfere with "our time"? What happens when priorities shift and we find that our time together that week had to be limited? Will it affect our relationship? Will one of us, or both, feel guilty? Will we be ashamed because we broke our commitment to the other? Will it build walls between us because one feels that the other isn't placing them on a higher priority?

Life, especially Kingdom life, is not predictable. It's not something we can arrange at our leisure. It's vibrant, flowing, freeing, and at best... unpredictable. There's nothing at all boring about relationship with Father. Hanging with Him is like spending every day at an amusement park!

Tom Reindl said...

Bruce,

What happens when the things of life begin to interfere with our time? In terms of "scheduling", it would depend on how secure and confident your relationship is. I know you didn't mean to imply that the things of life will take precedence over God, because I know you don't think that way.

Scheduling is scheduling , there's nothing ritualistic about it. What is ritualistic is the attitude toward the schedule. Remember, Jesus wasn't all that concerned with the fact that we were sinners, He understood that to be part of our nature. What He loathes is someone justifying their sin, trying to make it alright through their own effots or excuses. He loathes an unrepentant heart. Ritualism is far more a matter of the heart than of the physical activity.

His words, "These people worship me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me has nothing to do with the actual activity of their worship, and everything to do with the fact that they did it to "look" and "sound" righteous, while their hearts ever remained closed to God. The "heart" of every matter is what Jesus wants. If we schedule a time with Him, then He wants our heart. If we don't schedule a time with Him, and we just meet Him whenever, still, He wants our heart. So, neither scheduling, or not scheduling means anything, what means everything is where our heart is when we are "with" Him. I can schedule a thousand meetings with Him in a year and keep every one of them, and if my heart is not surrendered to Him, then every meeting might as well not have taken place. Likewise, you can meet with Father one thousand times without ever scheduling it, and if your heart is not surrenderd to Him, then the meeting might well as not happened.

You see, I understand where you are coming from, and I think I know why you feel as you do, but I am not certain. This I know; Most people (maybe not you or others), if they never schedule it, never do it. We make time for the things we find most important, whether that means scheduling or not doesn't matter, it's a fact, and we do it.

I say this not only from personal experience, but also from witnessing others do it, that Spirit-led people do not fall into rituals, even though they "schedule" time with their Father. Rituals are not a danger for the Spirit led person. You strike me as a spirit-led person, and that means you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. You are free, so if you have to schedule something, do it and don't worry about it. If you feel that you don't want to schedule it, then don't. But my experience tells me that most won't be able to maintain a strong relationship with Father God until they make time to do it.It's not a relationship if you're never with the other person, the things of this world notwithstanding.

I lead a group of twelve men, and we meet tonight. This is a scheduled time, and most of us are either spirit led, or growing into that as the basis and foundation for our lives. These men meet because they want to, not because they have to, and it's scheduled. If they can't make it, the only thing I do is call them if they have missed a few times just to make sure there isn't a situation that is preventing them from coming, or if there is a problem they are going through that I might be able to help them with. If they decide not to come anymore, then they are free to make that decision, without guilt, or blame being leveled upon anyone, except possibly on me. If I'm a bad leader or teacher, I should expect to have people leaving the groups I teach. Last thing. As we progress closer to the image of Christ, we will be with the Father wherever we are more and more, and then we will have a clearer picture of what we need to do, and what we don't.

Thank you very much for your comments. They are stretching me more than you know. Amen and grace be with you always from Father and Christ and Spirit.

Anonymous said...

I see where you're coming from, Tom. And I agree that we need to sometimes purpose ourselves to offer a special time of communication with our Father. But, the warning I offer is this. It is so easy for people to fall into the trap of "performance based relationship". In other words, the idea that we must "do something" to have, or maintain, our relationship with our Father. If someone has to "force" themselves to relate with Him, then I think it's very possible that they don't understand the message of grace. Our life, our identity, our very being is in the Son. There is nothing we can do that is greater than that. If it takes scheduled times of learning/prayer/meditation to arrive at that point, then by all means do it. But I think it is often a simple matter that they have not heard the message of grace in terms that they can understand and cling to. Some take longer than others, and that's ok, but for him who walks in grace, basing our relationship on "what we do" is dangerous... I think.

Love ya,

Bruce

Anonymous said...

Wayne Jacobsen posted an interesting article along the lines of our discussion today. It's called, Learning to Listen to God, and is the second post on his blog at:

http://www.lifestream.org/wblog.html