2015-06-01 16.18.00-1When’s the last time you’ve been out in the country?  My son and I recently took some time to visit one of our favorite backpacking places in the Shining Rock Wilderness Area in Pisgah National Forest.  It was a great time being together and an opportunity to recall many fond memories of backpacking trips in the past.

I remembered many of the spiritual lines in the sand that were made on some of those mountain tops.  It’s great to pull away with no distractions (and no cell phone coverage) to have an opportunity to listen to God.  The Psalmist understood this truth,

Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
And your judgment as the noonday.  (Psalm 37:4-6)

Three Dog Night also understood the importance of solitude in their 1970 hit song, “Out in the Country“,

Whenever I need to leave it all behind
Or feel the need to get away
I find a quiet place far from the human race
Out in the country

Solitude is the space where you may find rest and healing for your soul.  Solitude is not simply outer circumstances but an inner condition.  You are liberated from the pressures of the world and it is an opportunity to experience God’s peace – His shalom.  Dallas Willard believes that solitude are silence are the most important spiritual disciplines for us to practice.  Pascal observed,  “I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they are unable to stay quietly in their own room.”

Ruth Haley Barton in Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, points our the paradoxical nature of solitude, “In solitude we stop believing our own press.  We discover that we are not as good as we thought but we are also more than we thought.”   It is in solitude that you discover that muddy water becomes clear after you let it be still for a while.  As you follow the example of Jesus, you too will experience the blessings of solitude,

In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.  (Mark 1:35)

 

RickAssociate Pastor – Discipleship.  The Church at LifePark

Professor of Discipleship, Columbia International University

Follow me on twitter:  rickhiggins5