I began writing this blog on January 17th, the day that many Christian traditions remember St. Anthony, the 4thCentury monk who sold all that he had and ventured into the Egyptian desert to live out his long life in solitude with God. His example had a profound influence on Christians throughout the Roman empire. Today, we may admire this type of dedication, yet with a sense of its eccentricity and perhaps its seeming “impracticality” in a world such as ours. Yet it’s in the cacophonous and frantic pace of our secular world that we desperately need to reclaim aspects of this vital tradition.
“The Fathers of the Church were not afraid to go out into the desert because they had a richness in their hearts. But we, with richness all around us, are afraid, because the desert is in our hearts.” Franz Kafka, 20th Century
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Augustine of Hippo, 4th Century
Richness in Our Heart. Rest for Our Restless Heart
We are ambivalent about spending time in solitude. On one hand, we may wish to get away – perhaps into the beauty of nature – to escape the bustle of life. On the other hand, we find it almost intolerable to be without our smartphones and social media feed. Blaise Pascal, the 17th Century mathematician, scientist, and Christian thinker wrote;
“Man finds nothing so intolerable as to be in a state of complete rest, without passions, without occupation, without diversion… (where) he faces his loneliness, inadequacy, dependence, helplessness, emptiness”. (Pensées, #622).
Yet, for the Christian, solitude is where we meet and commune with the Father. As such, it should be a daily “go into your room and shut the door” discipline. But solitude should also be a “throughout the day” reality – a kind of “portable-solitude” of prayer and thanksgiving that guides and impacts the entirety of our day.
Obstacles to Solitude
Why do we find solitude to be so difficult? It’s helpful to understand that each of us is faced with two primary obstacles to finding solitude with God – one internal and one external. Our primary internal obstacle is our selfish resistance to placing the entirety of our lives on the altar. In Romans 12:1, Paul tells us “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship”. Thus, Christian solitude entails “whole person” surrender to God. This type of sacrifice, Paul reminds us, is “holy and pleasing to God”… our “true and proper worship” (NIV).
A common characteristic of our reluctance to surrender to God is a “checking the box” attitude toward personal devotions – a “sip-and-run” spiritual snack before running off into our day. This may assuage our guilty conscience but can never bring true rest to our restless heart. This only comes as God captures our whole heart as well as our whole obedience. James likens this hasty habit to glancing into the mirror then quickly forgetting what we look like. By comparison, solitude gives adequate time to reflect biblically on who God is… and who we truly are.
This points to another internal obstacle we may face – guilt over our sin and a sense of our unworthiness. But it’s precisely in our surrender and confession to God that we experience His lavish mercy and forgiveness.
The external obstacles of solitude with God should be obvious. We are bombarded each waking hour with the din and confluence of social media, text messages, cable news flashes, advertisements, entertainments, and other diversions. If you find it hard to set aside uninterrupted time with God or if your smartphone is a distraction during prayer, then you can begin to understand the “principalities and powers” that swarm over our overly stimulated, overly distracted culture.
“Go Into Your Room….and Shut the Door”
“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:6, ESV)
Solitude begins by setting aside a time and a place where we lay aside every distraction to meet with God. This means “shutting the door” to protect our solitude from the internal and external distractions that would short-circuit our fellowship.
As Christians, we understand that our privilege of praying to the Father is due solely to His grace and mercy. This is why Paul, when telling us to “offer our bodies as a living sacrifice” prefaces this with “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God”. Paul used the word “therefore” to draw our attention to the preceding eleven chapters of Romans which showcase God’s utter faithfulness and sacrificial love in Jesus Christ. Oh, yes… we have much to praise God for!
So, specifically, how might we spend time in solitude with God? Certainly, we should read and meditate on Holy Scripture. We should also pray. In fact, in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us how to pray the “Our Father…” prayer – the Lord’s Prayer. While this is a precious prayer to be recited individually or in a congregation, it also provides us with a wonderful “outline” for extended times of prayer and meditation.
“Go With God”: Portable Solitude
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11: 28-30, ESV)
Our time of solitude with God provides us with a daily opportunity to surrender our lives anew to God. It is also a time when we again humbly slip our neck into the yoke of Christ with whom we go into the busyness of our day. Scripture provides us with several additional metaphors for this portable type of solitude: “abiding” in Christ, “walking in the light”, being “led by the Spirit”, or “picking up our cross”. Paul, in Philippians 4:4-7, gives us a glimpse of what this looks like in the life of a “yoked” believer:
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (ESV)
