Silence and Solitude Intro:
“Think of Christopher Nolan as a man trying to write a novel while the neighbors – in this case, the rest of the world’s population – won’t keep the noise down. The filmmaker doesn’t own a cell phone, has no e-mail account and, in recent weeks, he’s been hiding out at the Paradise Cove trailer park in Malibu to focus on a new script while growing a Hollywood hermit’s beard.
“I don’t really look at the Internet,” the 40-year-old said
with an old-soul sigh, “because if I don’t, it gives me more time to think….”
We live in a noisy, distracting and busy world. A world in which nearly everyone has a smartphone;
a world where my 2 -year old cousin knows how to operate an Ipad; a
world in which twitter chirps, text message alerts, and the constant staccato
of our thumbs tapping on our smartphones fill and distract us.
Then there's the demands of work and school, family obligations, and an attempt of a social life with friends.
Our world is loud. Our world is full of toys and gadgets that keep us entertain. Our world has incessant work demands, expectations, and obligations. And because of our today's world, it is difficult to hear God.
With the ease of access in our world, we have been trained to expect an obvious or immediate SIGN from God. A clear revelation of what He telling us to do with our lives. Unfortunately, that's not the way God reveals Himself anymore. Instead, to seek God's will requires the unfashionable discipline to quiet the noise in our lives and hear God speak to us....in a whisper.
With the ease of access in our world, we have been trained to expect an obvious or immediate SIGN from God. A clear revelation of what He telling us to do with our lives. Unfortunately, that's not the way God reveals Himself anymore. Instead, to seek God's will requires the unfashionable discipline to quiet the noise in our lives and hear God speak to us....in a whisper.
Where Are You God?
There was a time in history when God revealed Himself
through clear, grand spectacles such as signs and wonders. In our class study, we compared and contrasted Exodus
19:16-19 and 1 Kings 19:11-12.
Both accounts happened at Mount Sinai.
Exodus 19:16-19 - On the morning
of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over
the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.
Then Moses led the people out of
the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke,
because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up
from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain
trembled violently. As
the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
1 Kings 19:11-12 - The Lord said, “Go out and stand on
the mountain in the presence of the Lord,
for the Lord
is about to pass by.”
Then
a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks
before the Lord,
but the Lord
was not in the wind. After the wind there was an
earthquake, but the Lord
was not in the earthquake. After
the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.
And after the fire came a gentle
whisper. When Elijah heard it, he
pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
God revealed Himself through dramatic
revelations in the past as with Moses. There was a reason for that type of
revelation (mainly to reveal to Pharaoh and the world that He alone is God [Exodus 14:4]). However, God
doesn’t have to speak through grand, spectacular signs and miracles. In Elijah’s account, God
teaches Elijah that He also speaks in a whisper.
Our world is different today than the world of Moses and
Elijah. Those where the days of prophets, in which God spoke through prophets. In today's world, we have something much more valuable than Moses and Elijah. Today we have the Bible, the full revelation from God; the actual Word of God.
And because we have the Bible, we don’t need prophets to hear God’s voice. Today God speaks
through His Word. But it's our job to [spiritually] discipline ourselves to read it,
study it, and apply it to our lives and reflect in silence and be still before God to
hear His voice.
It is very important that we study the Bible in order to know God's Word and discern His will. To the extreme,
people will claim to be prophets today (false!) and say that they have direct revelation from
God. To the extreme, some of them will even say that God told them to hurt someone.
And if we don't do our part and study the Bible God has given us, we may fall victim to their charlatan. If they're charismatic enough or appeal to our emotions, we may actually believe that God really did tell them to hurt someone or that God told them to commit a sin. But let's look at God's word as our authority. In James 1:13-14 we find: "When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed."
And if we don't do our part and study the Bible God has given us, we may fall victim to their charlatan. If they're charismatic enough or appeal to our emotions, we may actually believe that God really did tell them to hurt someone or that God told them to commit a sin. But let's look at God's word as our authority. In James 1:13-14 we find: "When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed."
Perhaps this illustration will help clarify:
We
hear His voice when we spend time in Bible study and quiet contemplation of His
Word. The more time we spend intimately with God and His Word, the easier it is
to recognize His voice and His leading in our lives.
Employees at a bank are trained to recognize counterfeits by studying genuine money so closely that it is easy to spot a fake. We should be so familiar with God’s Word that when someone speaks error to us, it is clear that it is not of God.
(Source: http://www.gotquestions.org/voice-of-God.html#ixzz3RvyxoXfG )
Employees at a bank are trained to recognize counterfeits by studying genuine money so closely that it is easy to spot a fake. We should be so familiar with God’s Word that when someone speaks error to us, it is clear that it is not of God.
(Source: http://www.gotquestions.org/voice-of-God.html#ixzz3RvyxoXfG )
If you believe God is speaking to you today through His Word, during a sermon, or through other Christians in your life (we'll talk more about this in our next class!), just be firm and uncompromising in that it must be in accordance with His Word. For surely it would be nonsense for God to contradict Himself!
Definitions (Whitney p. 184)
Silence – the
voluntary and temporary abstention from speaking so that certain spiritual
goals may be sought.
Solitude – the
voluntarily and temporarily withdrawing to privacy for spiritual purposes.
Application - Turning off the Noise…following
Jesus’ example
One way to practice Silence and Solitude is to learn from
Jesus:
Mark 1:35 – Very early in the morning, while it was
still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place,
where he prayed.
Luke 4:42 – At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary
place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was,
they tried to keep him from leaving them.
In both accounts, Jesus leaves at dawn, when it’s silent,
to spend time with God, in solitude, away from the busyness and demands
of his life and ministry. Our lives today are busier than ever. Much is
expected with our work, school, families, and even ministry obligations. We can
learn from Jesus and discipline ourselves to get up early to practice silence
and solitude before the noise and demands of life drown us. For those in serving in ministry, and are familiar with its demands, silence and solitude before God are necessary to restore us so I suggest........
Daily Retreats
To the extreme we can simply get away and grow a hermit
beard like Christopher Nolan. What’s more practical is to plan a get-away retreat to spend time alone
with God.
Elijah was spiritually burnt out when He ran to Mount Sinai. He was so burnt out, that Elijah asked God to end his life:
1 Kings 19:4b - 5: He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”
For anyone who's served in ministry, you will experience burn out. While we didn't focus on the burn out aspect (I encourage you to read more about it in 1 Kings 19 and spend time in silence and solitude in prayer as Elijah did), we too also experience burn out with life's demands.
One solution with burnout is to take a daily retreat. Go to a park or experience nature away from the demands at school or work to be alone with God. Be honest with God. Tell Him about your stress. Your burn out. Be vulnerable as Elijah was before God.
Ultimately, we need these times of silence and solitude to restore our spirits. We take vacations from work to recover from the stress and demands of our job; we should take spiritual vacations or retreats to replenish our soul or strengthen our relationship with God. As Donald Whitney put it: “As sleep and rest are needed each day for the body, so silence and solitude are needed each day for the soul.”
Elijah was spiritually burnt out when He ran to Mount Sinai. He was so burnt out, that Elijah asked God to end his life:
1 Kings 19:4b - 5: He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”
For anyone who's served in ministry, you will experience burn out. While we didn't focus on the burn out aspect (I encourage you to read more about it in 1 Kings 19 and spend time in silence and solitude in prayer as Elijah did), we too also experience burn out with life's demands.
One solution with burnout is to take a daily retreat. Go to a park or experience nature away from the demands at school or work to be alone with God. Be honest with God. Tell Him about your stress. Your burn out. Be vulnerable as Elijah was before God.
Ultimately, we need these times of silence and solitude to restore our spirits. We take vacations from work to recover from the stress and demands of our job; we should take spiritual vacations or retreats to replenish our soul or strengthen our relationship with God. As Donald Whitney put it: “As sleep and rest are needed each day for the body, so silence and solitude are needed each day for the soul.”
Personal Example:
In my experiences, God works through
the normal every day things - a small voice or feeling from the Holy Spirit - which
we can easily miss because life is busy, noisy, and distracting. However God is speaking to you, don't forget it has to be in
accordance with His Word. I shared how He answered my prayer, in a series of unexpected events, that lead me to become your Sunday School teacher.
And when God tells you to do something or answers your prayers for a certain direction in your life, don't expect it now will be a simple, easy, or smooth path. That you will now just cruise through God's plan for your life. It still will require work. There still will be trials. But in the end, just as with Elijah's burnout, God is faithful. (spoiler: God at the end of 1 Kings 19 instructs Elijah to find Elisha, an aide and successor.)
Our faith journey will demand a lot. We will experience burnout and despair and often wonder where is God. But learn from Elijah's account. That God is present in our trials. That God hears our prayers. That God is faithful. That God answered Elijah's burnout by giving him necessary help. And that, this same God is working today in your life, amidst all the noise.
I hope you too would practice Silence and Solitude. I’ve
shared it before, but I grew the most in my walk with God when I was in
grad
school. I lived in Michigan and because it wasn’t as noisy and
distracting as
Los Angeles, I was able to spend a lot of time in silence and solitude;
in prayer, in Bible study, and reflecting on God. Those disciplines grew
my faith. They might just grow yours too!
Other Examples of God
working in Silence and Solitude in the Bible
We were fortunate to have the Call of Samuel taught by
Josiah’s dad. It’s a good study to see how Samuel prepared himself to hear
God’s voice. I encourage you to read and study it on your own in 1 Samuel 3.
Another example of God working in silence and solitude is the
Call of Moses in the wilderness – Exodus 3. God prepares Moses in the
barren wilderness, not the chaotic life of living in an Egyptian palace.
Application/Music Example: Spend some time in Silence & Solitude and watch this great video. The lyrics and video are appropriate for our lesson! Mercy Me - Word of God Speak
End notes:
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