Silence and Solitude and Communion with God

To our own detriment, we have lost the art of being still and knowing that God is God (Psalm 46:10).

When we read Mark 11:15-17 and visualize in our mind's eye what it would have looked like for Jesus to run the money-changers out of the temple, we wrongfully assume that this principle applies only to church life. When we realize that we (Jesus-followers) are now the temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), we come to understand that it is our minds and hearts that Jesus must clear of distractions.

Mark 11:15-17
"And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And he was teaching them and saying to them, 'Is it not written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations"? But you have made it a den of robbers.' "

To experience our God and enjoy His presence, we must get rid of any clutter that would distract us in our times of prayer and reflection upon His Word. After all, Jesus did this. We are told that He often went to the desert (Matthew 4:1), a mountain (Matthew 14:23), the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 21:37) and other places of solitude (Luke 5:16) to experience quietness in His mind and heart as well as communion with His Father.

But, many in our culture do not value quietness. It drives us crazy. And we don't value anything except busyness. We often pride ourselves in how much we have accomplished ... and how much busier we are than others. And we feel horrible (even guilty) when there is a span of time that we have not accomplished anything.

So, work with Jesus to have times in your day when you chase distractions out of your mind and heart so that you can enjoy prayerful communion with God. Doing so will go against the way many of us are wired. But, if we would enjoy our God, we must seek out daily time to quiet our minds and hearts and sit in the presence of God with reflective Bible reading and prayer.

God made us to need this time of communion with Him just as much as we were made to need air, food and drink. So, work to carve out space each day for quiet fellowship with God.

Psalm 42:1-2
"As a deer pants for flowing streams, 
so pants my soul for you, O God. 
My soul thirsts for God, 
for the living God. 
When shall I come and appear before God?"

When God humbles us it's a good thing

As I read the final chapters of the Biblical book of Job, I can't help but feel sorry for Job. From chapters 38-41, God hammers away with question after question. His intention is to remind Job that he is small man on a small planet that would appear to be an insignificant speck in the incredibly massive universe.

But, my sympathy is misplaced. When I come to understand what God is doing to Job (and what God desires to do with us), I realize that God is actually doing an incredibly loving thing.

Let me illustrate the point: Have you ever stood before a majestic mountain or a massive, cascading waterfall or something of the sort and just stood in awe? You felt so small in front of something so massive - so amazing - but your humility actually added to the joy. Because you were OK with feeling small, you were free to enjoy the greatness of what was before you.

Here's one more question: Have you ever had the previous experience with someone who was completely unimpressed? They diminished what you held in such high regard. They arrogantly treated what was so valuable as if it was common.

Here's another question: Who enjoyed the experience more? You who were humbled by it or the one who arrogantly was unmoved by the experience? The answer is obvious. We are most free to experience joy when we are humbled in the presence of something much greater than ourselves.

This is what God was doing with Job. Apparently, through all of his horrible experiences, Job had grown self-righteous and arrogant even to the point of questioning God's intentions and character. In that condition, He was not free to enjoy his God. So, to increase Job's joy, God pounded away at him with question after question with the intention of humbling him.

Application: Don't resist God's workings in your life to remind you of how frail and impotent you are in the grand scheme of things. It is only when we are humbled that we are free to really enjoy our incredible God.