Sit still before God

He Himself withdrew [in retirement] to the wilderness (desert) and prayed. ~Luke 5:16 (AMPCE)

Everything Jesus did while He was on this earth was an example to us.  Scripture teaches Jesus took time away from the hustle and bustle of life to pray and seek God’s presence and God’s perspective.  Jesus said in John 5:19 “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself.  He does only what He sees the Father doing.  Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.” (NLT) The only way we are able to do anything is to have a vision of us accomplishing it.  We have faith for so much in the “natural” but when it comes to the spiritual, we tend to have little vision.  We believe that our refrigerator will be cold when we open the door quicker than we believe that God will heal our bodies or strengthen our families.  This is a direct result of how many times we put either to the test.  You have opened that refrigerator so many times that you don’t even have to tell yourself everything in it is cold.  You just believe it will be, but it didn’t start out that way.  We have very little memory of all our “firsts” in life after a certain age.  We don’t remember what it was like to learn to have faith in common, everyday situations.  We don’t remember at 2 years old learning that we could crawl up on a chair and it wouldn’t collapse.  This is exactly why Jesus said in Matthew 18:3 “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (NIV)  Faith expects and when you don’t have a vision of what God is capable of doing in you and through you, nothing will ever happen. 

Jesus had “alone time” with God to get a vision.  Our alone time with God enables us to get a vision for our lives and develop the faith to accomplish God’s will every day.  When you get up in the morning do you “hit the floor running” so to speak?  In order to have a productive and peaceful atmosphere we must work alongside God to create one.  Jesus made up His mind He was going to withdraw to a specific place and pray.  Have you made up your mind to take time to get before God today?  If so, what does that look like?  It’s interesting to look at the places Jesus chose to get away and spend time with God.  In Luke 5 it was the desert.  At other times scripture teaches that He went up on the mountain.  The point is He didn’t go to the temple, and He didn’t go to the marketplace to seek God’s presence.  He went somewhere quiet, away from people, where He could be alone.  In Psalm 46:10 God tells us “Be still, and know that I am God.” (NIV) When was the last time you did that?  Sit still before God and let Him calm your nerves and speak to your heart.  In our fast-paced lives, we often find ourselves creating habits that are not beneficial for our spirit man.  We are not called to live by habit, we are called to live by faith, and it is well worth the discipline to trust God with everything else and take Him at His word that our time with Him is more important than anything else on this earth.  Take time to discover that quiet times with God will help you discover who you are, what you should be doing and even to recover from the pressures of life.  

I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from Him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken. ~Psalm 62:1-2 (NLT)

Have you gotten alone with God today? What did He tell you?

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