The Steps into Solitude
How do we practice solitude in our lives?
Verse of the Day
“Be silent before the Lord, all humanity, for he is springing into action from his holy dwelling.”
Today’s Devotional
One of the things that is stressed over and over in Foster’s book is the importance of taking action. We simply cannot, with any spiritual learning, read about it and expect it to become a part of our lives without putting forth some actionable steps. Silence and solitude are no different. Here are some steps that Foster suggests for practicing the discipline of solitude:
- Take advantage of the “little solitudes” that fill our day.
- Early morning moments in bed before the family awakens.
- The solitude of a morning cup of coffee before beginning your day.
- The solitude of sitting in traffic.
- Little moments of rest and refreshment when you notice a flower or tree.
- Instead of prayer before a meal, invite everyone to join in a few moments of gathered silence.
- Find new join and meaning in walking to your car or around the block.
- Slip outside before bed to taste the silent night.
- These tiny snatches of time are often lost on us, but it does not have to be so.
- We can find or develop a “quiet place” designed for silence and solitude. This could be a room in your home, or even as simple as a certain chair. When you are in this place, you are telling anyone else, “Please don’t bother me, I want to be alone.”
- We can find places outside our home for times of solitude: a spot in the park, a church sanctuary that is kept open, a retreat center.
- We can have days where we limit our words to only whatever is absolutely necessary, if any at all.
- Take the above step even further by going an entire day without words at all.
- Four times a year withdraw for three or four hours for the purpose of reorienting your life goals. Use this time to seek God’s will and reevaluate the goals and objectives in your life. Goals are discovered, not made. God delights in showing us exciting new alternatives for the future. You are going to go somewhere so how much better to have a direction that has been set by communication with God.
- Take a retreat once a year with no purpose in mind but solitude.
Here a few other suggestions:
- Set one evening per week aside for solitude. No TV, no phones, no technology. Just you and God.
- Practice the Sabbath day of rest.
- Silence your phone and any other distractions during your daily time with God.
Ultimately, we each have a choice about how much we are willing to do to deepen our relationship with God. There are some seasons in life when these things are much more difficult to accomplish. I can’t even count how many times I’ve been studying something and I say to God, “I have no idea how to do this! How do I incorporate this practice into my life when I am already overwhelmed?” My experience is that God is always kind when we are wanting to seek Him, even when we don’t know how to fit it in or what it should look like. He is not trying to overwhelm us, He is likely trying to get to focus on Him for a short amount of time so He can fill us up with His love, goodness, and power so that we can then go accomplish whatever He put us on this earth to do.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
Which actions seem worth trying and which ones seem unreasonable to you?
What actions are you willing to take to practice solitude?
How can you ask God for help to step away from the world to be with Him?