When the Noise Fades, God Speaks

Solitude can be one of the most beneficial spiritual disciplines to engage in and yet it might be the single most challenging one…especially for church leaders. With a never ending to do list and more work than hours in the day, how could we possibly find time and benefit from this practice?

Solitude is simply being alone with God. It is doing nothing and saying nothing. The intentional act of getting away from your normal places and pace to wait on God to reveal what it is He has to say. Solitude is not making something happen or fabricating what you want. 

Some of the best benefits that solitude can have is it allows us to hear from God, to gain perspective, and to reflect on our own spiritual health. We see multiple times in Scripture that even Jesus himself sought the opportunity to seek solitude (Mark 1:12, Mark 1:35) and honestly if it’s good enough for Jesus to practice, it’s certainly something we need to practice. It is how Jesus cared for his human soul, it is how he dealt with emotions like grief, and how he handled the demands of his ministry. No one else had as much urgency while living than Jesus did and yet we find all over the Gospels that Jesus intentionally sought times of solitude. His ministry was better because of it. 

Solitude requires time. You have to plan to do it. You can’t on a whim go off and expect to not get bombarded with distractions. It is okay to put solitude on the calendar. 

Solitude is not emptying your mind. Before your time of solitude, ask God to reveal to you a scripture you should reflect on or questions you want to seek God on. If we are wanting him to speak to us, it’s okay to ask questions.

Solitude doesn’t require anything. You might think your Bible or favorite worship song is necessary for your solitude time. Truth is…even good things can be distractions. You might start out reading but will end up in the passage preparing for your next message. Your phone might start off playing your worship jam and then the emails come in.