Come Away and Rest 

   “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” (Mark 6: 31) 

   These words of Christ to His apostles are as relevant to me and you today as it was to them when He said them.  We need time to rest a while in the company of God.

   There is little opportunity to find a deserted place in the world today.  Everywhere we go there is noise, activity bordering on chaos, and never any silence.  Our spirit can’t flourish in such a world.  We need to get away from time to time and spend quiet time with the Lord; to find that deserted place where we can rest.

   However, finding a quiet place is almost impossible these days.  There are still a few places where we can find solitude, away from the hustle and bustle of the world, but there seems to be fewer and fewer of them.  Even Jesus had difficulty getting away from the crowds at times and had to retreat to the mountains to commune with the Father.

   “In yourself right now is all the place you’ve got.” (Flannery O’Conner).  Since finding a deserted place is harder and harder to do, we must create our own deserted place.  We must find solitude; learning to love solitude is learning to love God more.  In solitude we can let the world slip away and discover the beauty of silence.  In solitude we can learn to know ourselves.

   Find a place to shut out the world and its distractions for a time.  If possible, designate a place in your home that is your “quiet place.”  In solitude, in the silent depths of your soul, is where you can best hear the quiet voice of God.