“But now even more the report about him (Jesus) went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.”  Luke 5:15-16 ESV

How do we listen for the voice of God in a world that rushes past us, threatening to distract us with something flashy and exciting or dark and painful at any given moment? Although we know that the wise Solomon once said, “There is nothing new under the sun”, sometimes it feels like our culture has produced a greater amount of distractions than ever before. Computers, tv’s and smartphones have invaded our relationships, our quiet moments, our conversations, even our bedrooms. We can watch our favorite show at any given moment without the interruption of commercials. We can scroll through our social media accounts while we are waiting in line to get our coffee or trying to fall asleep at night. We can text and carry on 3 or 4 other conversations during lunch with a friend. We take in information all day long and never allow our minds to just rest. Breathe. Bask in stillness.

Here’s the hard truth: if we can’t even sit through lunch with a friend without checking our phone to check in on whatever or whoever may be distracting us at the moment, we will find it nearly impossible to sit alone with an invisible God.

I used to be terrified of solitude. If I was forced to be alone with my thoughts, then I might have to deal with some hard things, or pay attention to just how dark or sad my thoughts could be. I might have to hear some hard things from the Lord that I didn’t want to hear. I didn’t understand that my heavenly Father just wanted to sit with me, to talk with me, to pour out his love, to hear what I was going through, and to gently and patiently speak into my most vulnerable places. God’s character is on display from Genesis to Revelation as a God who redeems the ones that He loves. He longs to rescue us, to grow us, to deepen our roots in Him. Roots cannot deepen if we do not stay planted and we don’t look up to the light.

So how do we deepen our roots? If we look to Jesus’ example, we often see him withdraw to desolate places. When the world around him was chaotic, he simply withdrew. What would it look like for us to withdraw from the pressures and chaos of everyday life in order to be in the presence of our Father? What if we could find a space and a time that belonged to us and to Him?  What if we didn’t bring our phone into that space but brought only a journal and our Bible instead? What if we lit a candle and practiced presence so that our roots could truly deepen? What if we sat for a few minutes without saying anything except, “I am here Father, and I am listening”? Would we be ok with silence? Would we start to hear something after a while, maybe even after a week or two of silence? God speaks to us in many ways, but it is our job to listen and to create space for listening. Your presence matters.