Faith Tabernacle

A few months ago while I was meeting with a small group of students in my office I posed to them a question, “What do you think of solitude?” I was a little surprised by the response I received. They almost unanimously agreed that it was equivalent to punishment. “Solitude it terrible!” one student said, “I always have to have some music or noise playing.”

Then I brought to their attention that one of the greatest figures in the Bible spent his entire adolescence alone. David was a shepherd boy. This was a very, very lonely job full of solitude. Yet, it was in this solitude that a psalmist and warrior was conceived.

The students quickly recognized that had it not been for solitude David would not have become the man that he was.

So I challenged them, the same as I will challenge you as parents, make room for solitude and quiet in your life. Be intentional about shutting out all the voices and noises that compete for your attention. If you don’t, you could be losing out on a profound experience with the Almighty who chooses to speak in a still small voice. Sometimes you need (I repeat need) to have a night in your home where everybody is unplugged from the internet, television, video games and cell phones. A night where everyone is challenged to just be present and in the moment. Solitude is a gift that we must not ignore. God has and will continue to use it to speak to us and make us more like Christ.