Craving Quiet
Summer has brought with it a new craving that has invited a new rhythm into my mornings. I still get up in the early morning and pad my way into the kitchen in slippered feet. I press start on the coffee pot and take my dogs out to potty as the sky just starts to turn from dark to dawn and my coffee brews. I pour a cup of coffee into my mug and curl into my favorite corner of the couch. I pray, I read scripture, and I journal. That has been my daily rhythm for years, but in this season, I follow up that routine with something new. I leave my spot on the couch and trade in my fuzzy bathrobe for gym shorts and a tank top, I lace up my tennis shoes, and I head out into the morning to walk…alone, with just God and my thoughts.
I crave the quiet. I’m hungry for silence. I long to be alone with God and this new daily rhythm of moving from time in the word to time spent walking in creation gives me space to think, to process, to pray, and to reorient myself. God is transforming me during these walks.
The quiet creates space for me to bring my whole self, honest and open, before God. I can pour out my heart and know He hears me, sees, me, knows me, and loves me beyond measure. I can process out all the thoughts ping ponging in my brain. I can share my hurts, my sadness, my joys, my excitement, my struggles, my hopes, and my fears. As I walk, I know that each step I take, He literally there walking with me. And in the quiet, I can hear His still, small voice and it changes me from the inside out.
In this season, my soul longs for this space where I can be alone with God. And that’s ok. It’s not selfish or lazy to crave silence and solitude. Jesus did.
Luke 5:16 NIV says this, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
If we study the gospels we see Jesus carving out time alone with the Father. He went to the garden, to the mountain, to the wilderness, and to solitary places. His soul craved something that could only be found apart from the noise, distraction, and busyness of His daily life. Even Jesus longed for time alone with the Father.
Like Jesus, we may have to seek out those opportunities to be alone with God. Right now, I’m in a season of life that allows me to talk long walks early in the morning to be alone with God. That hasn’t always been the case. I clearly remember seasons where even sneaking away to go to the bathroom alone was an accomplishment worth celebrating.
Permission to be right where you are, but permission to also crave quiet spaces of deep connection where God can transform your mind, heart, and life. Maybe you aren’t in a season where a morning walk alone with God is an option. That’s ok. Your space of solitude and silence with God might be a few minutes with a cup of coffee at the kitchen table with Jesus during nap time or the handful of minutes in the shower where you can turn your thoughts fully toward God. Even those few moments where you’d normally let your mind wander while you scroll social media, listen to music or a podcast, or flip on the tv can become sacred space for silence and solitude if we choose to take that time and use it to be alone with God instead.
Whatever season you’re in, look for little pockets of time to pay attention to your soul’s craving for quiet, deeply connected space with God. Ask Him to open your eyes to new opportunities to withdraw with Him to a lonely space, like Jesus did. Get alone with Him and know that whatever time you spend with God is time that can transform you from the inside out.