After our Evolve service, I was left with a fresh mind. Derrick really enlightened us with a huge differentiation: the distinction between silence and solitude. The difference is simple, but the meaning is deep. Solitude is a choice. We are supposed to have this time in our everyday lives. What we fill with it, that’s where it all matters.
Our alone time could be filled with relationship building with Christ, but we generally turn to other things to fill our time. Extraverts tend to fill their time in community with others. Introverts find time alone with themselves, but these aren’t always quite times with the Lord. This Evolve service really put in perspective for me the essentialness of engaging in solitude with Christ.
Solitude with the Lord, for me, looks like cutting back on friend hang outs, social media scrolling, and dates with Netflix. I tend to allow these things to fill my extra time as a release of the everyday stresses. But, of course, they are not nearly as fulfilling as time with the Lord would be. As this semester progresses and work piles up, I’ve tended to put my one-on- one time with Jesus on the back burner.
This service spoke a message so precious to me:
God wishes to know us, truly and deeply.
Time in solitude with Him is a perfect way to close that distance. We are so fortunate to live in a country where we have religious freedom. Let us utilize our freedoms as much as possible, as they are a gift. Let us be inspired by what the Lord spoke through Derrick at Evolve and engage in time with our God today. That way, we can be a community of witnessing friends who have Jesus on the forefront of their hearts.
Flagler
