Contentment in the Stillness

On a recent road trip with Jeff, I was struck by the silence in the car. Surprisingly, my heart began to smile at the joy I felt just being together. In the past when I saw an older couple sitting across from each other at a restaurant in silence, I thought “How sad. I hope Jeff and I are never like that.” As I matured, I realized what a treasure such couples share. They don’t feel pressured to talk or to impress; they are merely content to be together. How beautiful!

God has been convicting me recently of how little time I spend in stillness with him. I rush through my quiet time in order to move on to the next task on my to-do list. If I treated my time with Jeff like a spot on my daily check-list, our relationship would quickly deteriorate, yet this is exactly how I treat God. Today I began a new plan to implement solitude throughout my day. I want to spend quiet times alone with my Savior. For some reason, the silence is currently uncomfortable. I am told the more time I spend with the Father, the more comfortable I will be in the quiet. I suppose the same has been true in my relationship with Jeff.

So today I start with just two minutes of silence twice a day. As the days pass, I will increase the time. I hope to learn what it means to “be still and know He is God.” I am using the book by Peter Scazzero as a guide to help me to be intentional to practice the discipline of solitude. As the days progress, I will give you an update on how I am doing (and hopefully what God is teaching me).

I am curious, how do you carve out time for solitude in a world of busyness?