Solitude…

Happy October, friends! We made it! All of our summer sweating is about to pay off! I am so enjoying this weather right now, I am sure you are too.

It seems like the word and concept of solitude has been coming up quite a bit in conversations around me lately. Again, I will refer to the Journey class that I took in the summer with Jody concerning spiritual disciplines and growing closer to Jesus through transformation. Solitude and SILENCE is one of these disciplines. Sitting in silence can be seriously difficult. It is a true struggle to keep our minds from drifting off here and there to pretty much any other topic than staying quiet and still with the Lord. It is a true discipline and one that can be very difficult at first. BUT, it is SO glorious when you keep at it. It is one of those difficult disciplines (See my fasting blog post ;)) that Jesus truly meets us in such a powerful way. And the refreshment it brings to our minds and even bodies physically is amazing.

We are so busy these days. Appointments, vacations, commitments, kids, church, friends, dates, and the list can go on. And sometimes it is good things! Our commitments are not all bad. But the days and weeks and months can fly by without us giving ourselves time to just be quiet. We need rest and actual quiet time for our mental health. To block out the noise and thoughts. I can truly appreciate that it is difficult. It is difficult to quiet our thoughts and HEAR from the Lord on what He might want to say to us. Or to even have to hear our own thoughts uninhibited for that matter. But there is always, always something there in the quiet.

Many of you might already do this on a regular basis. Some of you might not like to sit in silence or maybe have not ever even thought to sit in silence. I would say, try it! Set a timer for 5 minutes and sit in silence. No music, no TV. Even if your thoughts wander, continue. Bring your mind back. It gets easier and with discipline over time, it just feels so refreshing to your mind and body. And it is a powerful way to meet with Jesus. This is a great reminder for ME to sit in silence, too. It’s a struggle to make time to just be quiet. But always worth it.


Happy October and lots of blessings,
Nikki Quaid