Tim Bohlke » // writings

Danger in the Quiet, Part II

I am hesitant to invite you to pursue God in the quiet. These extended times of solitude can have a few mine fields.

In the last few years, these quiet times of listening have been a dangerous place for me. In the quiet God has convicted me of things that should be changed, relationships I needed to let go of, and strongholds I needed to surrender. In the quiet I felt the nudge to leave a ministry I led for 20 years and step into an unsafe, unknown, uncertain new role. In the quiet I was led to start a new ministry that had no guarantee of success.

What if you dare to turn off the distractions, unplug and PRACTICE pursuing God in the quiet?  Get ready, because in the stillness and the quiet God will call you outHe will extend dangerous invitations to the kind of deep soul change that can lead to action. This just doesn’t happen in a 15-minute quiet time with a to do list and an agenda.

So, here is your invitation:
  • Take a WHOLE day. Shut off. Listen
  • If you don’t actually schedule this time, it more than likely won’t happen.
  • Fight the resistance that tells you that you can’t or won’t or shouldn’t.

A few thoughts to help:

  • Get to a place where your spirit wakes up. Remember, location is everything! Find a place where distraction don’t  exist and where your phone can’t ring.
  •  Take a journal, a book, some music, whatever stirs you.
  • To kick things off, read a favorite chapter in a book, listen to a favorite song
  • Then, just listen…

I  invite you to take some of the day to reflect on your spiritual journey. Go back to a time or times when God uniquely revealed himself to you. Where were you? Who were you with? What was going on in your life at the time? What did God say and how did you feel about Him speaking to you?

 

Then listen…

 

Carve this time into your schedule. Something as foreign as silence seeks to find a home in our obnoxiously loud world. Give yourself some grace in this. Seeking space so differently than you are used to will take practice and time to develop a good rhythm.

 

Here’s to taking this first day of quiet. May this space be the beginning of a journey that lasts a lifetime — a journey marked by the intentional pursuit of the still small voice that is the one we most need to hear.

Dale PhillipsJuly 15, 2013 - 3:00 pm

‘Be still & know I am God…’ (Ps 46:10)
Here’s to taking Him up on that invite!

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