Getting Alone with God (Quarantine Edition)
Solitude. A weirdo word in these weirdo times. For some of us, we’re as isolated as one could be — just us in an apartment. For others, we’ve now got all four kids and a husband home all. the. time. The idea of “solitude” will ring differently in each of our ears.
Getting alone with yourself and with God is of the highest importance to our spiritual lives and also to our mental, emotional, and physical lives, too.
It’s a cliched phrase, but you can’t pour from an empty cup. For those of us who are experiencing more time alone than usual, now might be the time to rethink our rhythms and how to invite God into them.
Here’s how I’m tending to each area of life with the Lord during “solitude” time:
Spiritual
Reading and praying Scripture in secrecy.
We’re reading Recapturing the Wonder by Mike Cosper at the church I work at, and I was recently struck by how valuable secrecy is to the Lord. My disposition is to share widely what I’m learning and experiencing with God, which certainly has its place. But like any relationship, there are many moments and experiences that are just for the two of us.
Realizing that has given me a lot of freedom in one particular area — I no longer have to invent meaning from all of my interactions with God. I don’t have to show up every time with the intent to pull a lesson to teach to others. I have to release that tendency to Him each morning when I open the Word, but I’m feeling the pressure to perform fade with every interaction.
Also, when it comes to reading Scripture, I usually show up to that time with just a journal and my Bible. But I’ve been feeling exhausted lately (with that whole “produce meaning” mentioned above), so I decided to switch to a guided devotional. It helps remove the temptation to find content or lessons for others in Scripture, and lets me just follow someone else’s guidance and questions. It’s been quite refreshing.
Emotional
Journaling my prayers and my emotions, very Psalm-esque
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still using that journal! I write down all my thoughts and prayers when I’m alone with God. It helps keep me focused and gives me a beautiful record of God’s faithfulness to me.
Something I’ve been trying is getting real aware of my feelings before the Lord. Confession: I am not great at feeling my feelings. I can talk about them all day long, but allowing myself to feel the physical repercussions of feelings? No thanks. But the other day I was talking with some friends about what I wanted from the Lord in this season and I started talking about joy and out of nowhere started crying. I had happened upon something emotionally important that I didn’t really know was there.
Asking myself the intentional question of “how am I feeling today?” during my dedicated time in Scripture and prayer allows God to guide me to work that needs to be done and then process with me. He’s really kind like that.
Gratitude
Every other writer in the world is talking about gratitude, so I won’t linger long here. But the truth is that God is working visible good in your life, and if you can’t see it, you’re not looking for it. The more you look, the more you see. He is worthy of praise, specific praise from you in a time when you might not feel like praising. Write down 3 things every day that you’re grateful for, and pray that you see even more
Mental
Generosity
This might seem like a weird category to put generosity in, but hear me out. Acting out of a generous spirit takes some work, my friend. It takes you looking at your budget, researching needs that you feel passionate about, using your specific gifts and talents to serve others. Generosity without an engaged mind and heart in the community you’re serving—whether that be providing groceries for your neighbor, donating money to a family around the world, or writing encouraging truth to leaders + friends in your community—won’t carry the same impact. When it comes to serving and generosity, get obsessed with those you’re serving. Learn about them. Befriend them. Serve the needs they articulate and the ones you perceive. Love them like you would want to be loved (like you have been loved by God!).
Learning — podcast or reading
This might be the most natural way for me to interact with God. I love listening to or reading other people’s revelations about God and what it means to faithfully follow Christ. I feel stimulated and motivated to pursue God in a new way. I’m learning to invite God into those thoughts with me while I’m learning, because I know He has something specific to tell me through these texts or podcasts. Also a reminder (for myself, mostly) that reading about God is not the same as reading God’s Word. Proximity and intimacy are different. Don’t let Scripture supplement your podcast habit; keep your priorities straight, my friend.
Physical
Move that body in a new way
My relationship with my body takes up a ton of headspace for me. Not a lot of it is great. I think it’s a human thing, I think it’s an American woman thing, I think it’s a sin thing. To steward my body—and my thoughts about my body—well is a challenge that the Lord and I are working on.
One of the ways we’re doing that is finding movement that feels like freedom and not like punishment. For me these days, that’s yoga. I’ve been doing it for many years and have started trusting my body (a wild thing for me) to just go through the motions while I listen to worship music. And Lordy, let me tell you how redeeming an experience that is. I used to take dance lessons when I was younger and had a tiny dance revival in college, and that’s one of the few places I’ve felt the Lord meet me in my body and feel it called “good”. Yoga and worship music has a similar effect for me. God will whisper affirmation to my spirit, He and I get to work out some tension I’m feeling literally and spiritually, it’s a good time all around for us. Maybe for you it’s HIIT and prayer, maybe it’s Manda Carpenter’s emotional run, but whatever it is for you, get in your body. Especially these days. God redeemed it for you, it is indwelled with the Spirit. He will meet you there, if you let Him.