“We encounter God in the stillness and silence of the desert.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – August 22, 2024
But the news about him spread even more, and large crowds would come together to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. Yet he often withdrew to deserted places and prayed. Luke 5:15-16, HCSB
I recently decided to take a forty-day fast from reading the news. Now, a few weeks into this exercise, I’m finding it to be more difficult than I expected it to be and far more life-giving than I could have anticipated. It’s difficult because this is a profoundly interesting time in our national and global history. The stakes are high, and something new and notable seems to happen daily. Yet, isn’t this exactly what the news outlets and publishers want me to believe? In their minds, when are the stakes not high? When would they ever encourage me to take a few weeks off?
Their business is built upon the necessity of information and the fear of missing out or being uninformed. Thus, I have spent countless years of my life forming daily opinions about topics and people that, in truth, I know very little about, and my opinions do very little to change any external circumstances or situations in our world.
However, my opinions do a wonderful job of unsettling and disquieting my own heart, a heart that is made to rest in the abiding peace of God.
I’m finding myself in need of desert spaces, places in my life that are intentionally devoid of the noise and chaos that seem to define our modern existence. We think of deserts as lifeless places, the opposite of a lush and flourishing garden, and of course, in a practical sense, this is true. Yet let us not forget that when our Lord Jesus was overwhelmed by the crowds and the news and the headlines and the “noise,” he retreated to the desert, not to escape life, but to encounter God in the stillness and silence of that place.
Increasingly, I am convinced of the absolute necessity of us following our Lord Jesus into the desert.
The world doesn’t need another person who has an armchair opinion about every politician or policy. It needs men and women who intentionally quiet the external noises in their lives so they can experience the stillness of heart that ushers them into the peaceful presence of God. Let us embrace the gift of desert spaces, for it is in the solitude and silence that we encounter the Lord afresh.
“God, you are my God; I eagerly seek you. I thirst for you; my body faints for you in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.” (Psalm 63:1, HCSB)
Prayer
Father, teach us to find you in the desert, that we may know the peace of a quieted and contented heart, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Application
Consider an intentional break from the news as an intentional and deliberate step into the desert.
Related Reading
Deuteronomy 32:10; Isaiah 43:19; Hosea 2:14-15
Worship Resource
Jenn Johnson: Nearness
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