I climbed a mountain. I really did. But, I left my phone at the bottom with no pictures to prove it.
I think it’s time some of y’all start leaving things at the bottom of the mountain too. How often does your climb seem harder than it should simply because you’ve picked up burdens the Lord didn’t intend for you to carry? Your mind races, the distractions abound and a to-do list stretches on. Our modern American culture has us moving fast and picking up more responsibilities than ever before. We emphasize busyness and repulse stillness. God doesn’t.
In my physical climb up the literal mountain, the Lord asked me to lay one big distraction down. My cell phone – my connection to the rest of the world, my biggest resource, my dependence on outsiders. He asked me to focus on Him and only Him for once.
This example extends much further than leaving my phone behind for a hike. The Lord has actually been asking a simple request of me for a long time and this week it’s been a constant invitation. Sit still. Embrace the silence. Ignore the distractions. All three are actions I am terrible at.
We had several sessions during debrief focused on silencing our mind and listening for His voice. However, during another session, we reviewed our personality types which emphasized self-awareness among the squad. My personality type drives with extroversion and effectiveness, neither of which walk hand-in-hand with being still.
I’ve never been very good at sitting still. Peace and quiet are hard for me. I’ve always blamed it on who I am as a person. But, God is no longer accepting my excuses. He wants me to want Him and only Him. I claim to be disciplined, and in a lot of ways I am. But, the spiritual discipline of solitude is now on my radar like never before.
I’m striving to climb my mountains with Him as the focal point. I’m learning to sit still, listen and obey, knowing clear and well His ways are better than my own. The distractions I so often allow to hinder my climb only take my eyes off the path He has laid for me up each and every one of life’s mountains.
I vow to value quiet time and make it priority, not a punishment.
I’m inviting all of you to slow down, willing spend time with your Father and accept the truth of the matter – He isn’t a second option and sitting in silence with Him will no doubt lighten your load.
I’ll leave you with a devotional entry my friend, Austin, shared with me this week.
“Receive My Peace. It is My continual gift to you. The best way to receive the gift is to sit quietly in My Presence, trusting me in every area of your life. Quietness and trust accomplish far more than you can imagine: not only in you, but also on earth and in heaven. When you trust me in a given area, you release that problem or person into My care.
Spending time alone with Me can be a difficult discipline, because it goes against the activity addiction of this age. You may appear to be doing nothing, but actually you are participating in battles going on within spiritual realms. You are waging war – not with the weapons of the world, bit with heavenly weapons, which have divine power to demolish strongholds. Living close to Me is a sure defense against evil.”
