Sweet Solitude, sweet silence

Yesterday in our men's Bible class, we had a wonderful guest speaker -- Jerry Taylor, the associate preaching minister at Highland. He gave an excellent exposition of Col. 3:1-16. Near the end of the class he talked about the value of carving out times of solitude with the Lord. Where we turn off our I-Pods, cell-phones, get away from the T.V. and just spend time listening to the voice of the Lord.

I loved his story of when he was a child and how the Lord cultivated in him an appreciation of silence at a very young age. His parents needed to work in the fields in West Tennessee. At age four, Jerry and his dog had to come along and sit in the family car while his parents worked. He hated that time because he was so lonely. When he became 12 years old and after his baptism, Jerry was invited by a man to work in his fields and get paid. Although Jerry loved having to work and getting paid for it, he found himself once more in a time of solitude and silence. He spent hours in those fields by himself, pulling weeds. And yet during those lonely working days, he began to appreciate his time with the Lord -- singing praise songs, practicing preaching until his voice was hoarse.

All yesterday afternoon I meditated on Jerry's message, especially his emphasis on taking time out to be alone with the Lord. I reflected on two vss. in particular that he taught out of Col. 3: "set your heart on things above...set your mind on things above." Even when I turned off the volume on the T.V. while watching a golf tournament, the whole atmosphere in the room changed. There was a moment of sweet silence which my soul craved for.

It seems that if we do take time out to be with the Father, on regular intervals as our Lord Jesus did while on earth, we will more likely set our affections on Him and be less attached to the world. And experience that peace that Jesus promises He will give us...a peace that the things of this world, no matter how many of them we could acquire, could never give us.

(By the way, today Mike Cope posted a letter from Ted Haggard to his church. It's a very powerful confession -- and a warning to all of us to not hide our sins and struggles from others. See www.preachermike.com)

Jim