Jesus lived in a world of inner solitude and frequently experienced outer solitude. He was busy but was never in a hurry. Silence and solitude was Jesus’ place of strength.
Before he began his public ministry, he spent 40 days in silence and solitude. (Lk 4)
Before he chose the 12, (he) spent the night praying to God. (Lk 6)
When he heard of John the Baptist’s death … he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. (Matt 14.13)
After feeding 5,000 … he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. (Mt 14.23)
He often … withdrew to lonely places and prayed. (Lk 5.16)
Before I suggest eight benefits, here’s a quick definition of each, as they are both cousins to each other. They both go hand in hand, and without silence, solitude has little effect. In essence, they are practices of NOT doing something—not interacting with society and people—withdrawing from human contact, voice, noise, phone, TV, radio, newspaper, etc. for a few minutes or a few days. The following definitions combine thoughts of Dallas Willard, John Ortberg and Richard Foster. When I speak of silence and solitude below, I will speak of them as one thing.
Solitude: The practice of temporarily being absent from other people (in isolation or anonymity) and other things so that you can be present with God. It’s not loneliness, nor is it getting away from people just because we don’t like them. It’s more about what we do with our bodies.
Silence: The practice of voluntarily and temporarily abstaining from speaking so that certain spiritual goals might be sought. It’s about what we do with our tongues, what we say.
Silence and solitude is a tool God uses to restore our souls by breaking engagements with the world. It is really more of a state of heart than a place. Granted, it does include awayness from others, but as you mature, you can even be in a huge crowd and experience the rejuvenating power it offers. On the other hand, you can become a hermit and never experience its power.
Here are eight practical benefits of silence and solitude.
1. It (they) breaks the power of hurry, our addiction to a ‘have-to-do-this’ mentality.
Willard explains it this way: The person who is capable of doing nothing might be capable of refraining from doing the wrong thing. And then perhaps he or she would be better able to do the right thing.[6]
It helps create an inner space for us to become aware of what we are doing and are about to do.
2. It helps renew our souls.
Francis de Sales, who in the late 1500s developed sign language to teach the deaf about God, wrote, “There is no clock, no matter how good it may be, that doesn’t need resetting and rewinding twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. In addition, at least once a year, it must be taken apart to remove the dirt clogging it, straighten out bent parts, and repair those worn out. In like manner, every morning and evening a man who reallly takes care of his heart must rewind it for God’s service. … Moreover, he must often reflect on his conditon in order to reform and improve it. Finally, at least once a year, he must take it apart and examine every piece in detail, that is every affection and passion, in order to repair whatever defects there may be.[7]
The Bible speaks pointedly to this idea.
Be silent before the Lord God! (Zeph 1.7)
My soul, wait in silence for God only, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be shaken. (Ps 62.5-6)
For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, ‘In repentance and rest you shall be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.’ (Is 30.15)
3. It reminds us that life will still go on without us.
It interrupts the cycle of constantly having to manage things and be in control. It breaks us from a sense of being indispensable.
4. It clears the storm of life and mind for wise decision making and planning.
Luke 6:12-13 tells us that Jesus spent time in silence and solitude when deciding whom to choose as the disciples who would travel with Him. And it was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples to Him; and chose 12 of them, whom He also named as apostles.
5. It creates inner space to hear the voice of God.
God spoke to the prohet Elijah right after he had come from a power encounter with the Baal worshippers on Mount Carmel. He had fled because he heard that Queen Jezebel had placed a price on his head. He hid in a cave and God asked him what he was doing there. Then God told him to leave the cave and that He would speak to him. Elijah saw a storm and then wind and then an earthquake and then fire. Yet God was not in any of those. Rather, God spoke in a gentle whisper (1 Kings 19.2).
We are usually surrounded by so much outer noise that it is hard to truly hear God when he is speaking to us.[8] Silence and solitude frees us from life’s preoccupations so we can hear God’s voice.
6. It allows us to disconnect from the world and deeply connect with our soul.
Henry Nouwen said, “In solitude, I get rid of my scaffolding.” And what is scaffolding? It’s the stuff we use to keep ourselves propped up, be it friends, family, TV, radio, books, job, technology, work, achievement, our bank account, etc.[9]
7. It helps us control our tongue.
James 1.19 says, “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”
Silence and solitude can free us from the tyranny we can hold over others with our words. When we are silent and yield to the advice in James, it becomes more difficult to manipulate and control the people and circumstances around us. When we practice silence, we lay down the weapons of words. It often reminds us that we don’t need to say as much as we think we do. We find that God can manage situations just fine without our opinions on the subject.
8. It helps us with the other disciplines.
When we include silence and solitude, it enriches prayer, Bible reading and fasting.
What would you add to this list of benefits of silence and solitude?
