Solitude and Silence

Dallas Willard speaks of solitude, silence and fasting as three practices that are especially helpful in making Sabbath rest real. I thought that was interesting. It's practicing silence and solitude at the Springs that not only provides a deep sense of rest while we are at the retreat, but also then enables us to enter into that place of rest even in the midst of a very busy life.

"We strongly need to see the manifest hand of God in what we are and what we do. We need to be sure HE is pulling the load, bearing the burden--which we are all too ready to assume is up to us alone. We must understand that He is in charge of the outcome of our efforts, and that the outcome will be good, right. And all of this is encompassed in one biblical term, "Sabbath." (The Great Omission, 34)

Living with an attitude of total rest in God will not happen automatically. We must practice laying everything down and walking away from it. We have to practice not talking. We have to practice silencing the inner noise. I love that at the Springs we have opportunity to learn how to leave behind all of our work and how to quiet all of the noise so that we can truly enter into God's rest.

The challenge is: we cannot bring our work with us to the Springs. It's tempting to think that we'll use the time to write an article or complete our Bible study. If we do this, true solitude and rest will not be found. We have to get away from our work.

Take an afternoon to walk the trails. Take an hour to reflect on the beauty of a wildflower or listen to the birds. Take some time to just sit in a chair and look at the valley and be open to the Lord and just be with Him. It can be quite a shock for those of us who are so busy doing ministry to learn how to come away in order to just be with the Lord. But once we've practiced solitude and silence, they become the most precious times for us...and truly, we can learn to bring the blessedness of that rest into our busy lives.

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