Page 98, "We must seek the fellowship and accountability of others if we want to be alone safely. We must cultivate both if we are to live in obedience."
Phew I love fellowship so check I got that but being alone, hmmm....not so much.
This has been a life long struggle for me, the ability to be alone and do it well. This was never more real to me than the summers I was on admin as a director and Barnabas coordinator and can look back and see how God was working on this disciplines with me those summers. In the midst of a place where I was surrounded by so many people from dock hands, to campers, to rental customers, guys working a Phil's propellers and other boat stores, filled with fellowship, those summers were some of the time where I spent the most time in silence and solitude. I am not sure how many hours were spent heading out in Jonah alone, crossing lake Shasta on a seadoo alone or driving up and down digger bay road alone but that is just it, I was not alone as I felt but in fact was in the presence of the Almighty God. What a gift those times were, where I felt no pressure to have to talk or come up with small talk but could rest in the presence of God and just be silent. That was a new experience, a novelty and I am so thankful for those times I spent "Alone" or now better called times in solitude because it has allowed me to grow in ways that given my own choice I would not have taken, God is so cool like that.
I am hoping this made sense and clearly these are still disciplines that I am working on and God is continually having to call me back into but I am working on it!
Page 97, "Inward solitude has outward manifestations. There is the freedom to be alone, not in order to be away from people but in order to hear the divine Whisper better."
Thanks so much for sharing Steph! I'm excited to experience some of those same things this summer. Thanks for the encouragement, I pray I'll remember this post during summer and take advantage of the opportunities to "hear the divine Whisper."
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