There is a thought-provoking story about a tribe of Nomads who stop their traveling periodically for their souls to catch up. In this book on eliminating hurry, John Mark Comer shares it. I don't know this pastor but, my therapist sister and I wrote the same story in our book, Tech-Pecked or Tuned In: Finding God in a Digital World. Comer shares so many of the same concerns about digital distractions and how they busy our lives, keeping us from what is important. Only this author is younger and cooler and saying the same things leaving me to believe that God is trying to tell His church something.
We won't find God if we are on our digital devices 150 minutes a day, twice that if you're a millennial. And those stats came out before Covid drove us all online. Our souls are becoming silicon, and our worldview is being dictated by the latest viral video or trending tweet. We're getting our convictions from the world and not the Word. We need to unplug from the world to plug into God.
As we look to Jesus for our example, we see his discipline for seeking quiet time with God. I have said the "D" word. Discipline sounds like hard work doing things I don't like—doing sit-ups; not slivering the chocolate cake until it's gone; managing my anger when my kids are stepping on my reserve nerve, and they know it; like not buying another trinket for my car or the house; like curbing the 150 hours a day on social media or scrolling down the black hole of negative news feeds or in the echo chambers that are fed to us by media itself to keep us addicted.
But Hear me, when we employ the discipline to meet our Creator Maker in the morning before the day gets the better of us, the reward is so much more—more than sit-ups and a six-pack; it's hearing from God and finding a life path. And then the disciplined behavior becomes its own reward. And meeting God in the morning becomes the best part of your day, and you end up wishing that being with Him in those quiet, intimate moments is all you had to do all day.
The Lord has been teaching me so much over the past 5 years spending time with Him each day in a quiet place. And it has been the greatest life-giving habit that I have adopted in the last decade. That and not eating all the kids holiday candy and telling them that the ants got it!
Truth is, in my quiet time with God is where I get the guts and gumption not to wolf down on the kid's treats and then cover it up by lying to my children! Or to not yell at the neighbor or, worse, my spouse. To keep from buying more stuff or climbing down the black hole of time checking Instagram feeds and feeling bad because everyone seems to have a better life than me. The quiet place is where we can find the peace of mind to negotiate trying times like global pandemics, economic shutdowns, and cultural unrest.
Mother Theresa said, "We all must take the time to be silent and to contemplate…I always begin my prayer in silence, for it is in the silence of the heart that God speaks. God is a friend of silence—we need to listen to God because it's not what we say but what He says to us and through us that matters. Prayer feeds the soul—as blood is to the body, prayer is to the soul—and it brings you closer to God. It gives you a clean and pure heart. A clean heart can see God, can speak to God and can see the love of God in others."
Quieting outside noise can be as simple as turning off the TV or shutting down the computer, putting down your phone. But shutting down the internal noise that clutters up our brain and keeps us from connection with God may prove harder than we realize.
If your brain goes ninety-miles-an-hour, you are not alone. It is the nature of our brains to wander. In Tech-Pecked or Tuned In, my sis and I devoted an entire chapter, "Meditation Isn't Just For Monks," on tools to help you calm your crazy brain and hear from God mainly because we needed it, and you may too. Check out my previous blog post. It's a synopsis of that chapter for you to print out and keep in your Bible.
The tools in this meditation will help you simmer down, turn down the noise in your head as you breathe out your problems, and breathe in God's peace. They will help you be present in the moment in God's presence. And remain in the present moment all day long.
They will help you bring your brain back to focus on the Lord as you find yourself drifting off into everything from, "Did I turn off the coffee pot?" to worries like, "Are we going to be in global quarantine forever?" to thoughts like, "How does Post get all the different colors in my bowl Fruity Pebbles"' and other matters of such significance at the moment.
Without the ability to idle down, we can easily give up, get up, and get busy. I did that for years and missed spending time with God and all the glimpses of heaven He has since provided.
This quiet time with God is not a soul-killing law; it's a life-giving opportunity to spend time with the Creator of the universe and the Lover of your soul.
When we stand before our Maker, we may regret a lot of things. But we won't regret one minute of time spent in his presence. Enjoy the quiet…