Solitude, Silence, and Rest, Even When Questions Storm Within Us
“How long, O LORD?
(The Psalms 13:1 NASB)
Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?”
If we are honest with ourselves, we have all asked these questions. Seasons of life have a way of making us stop moving, drop to our knees, and cry out: “How long, O LORD?”
You may be there now, walking through a hard season of grief, through a difficult week, and even through a trying day. Turmoil comes when we least expect it; just ask Job. Death comes to us all; just ask James, the brother of the apostle John. Fiery trials attack, even when we are living for the Lord; just ask the three Hebrew boys. Sometimes the LORD delivers us from the fiery furnace, sometimes the LORD sends an angel to release us from our trouble, and sometimes the LORD allows us to walk among the burning coals that singe. We are created human beings in the hands of a mighty, infinite, and holy GOD. We may pray for a situation to end, and the LORD may pardon us from the trial, and He may not because in His infinite wisdom—He sees our future, while we cannot. In His love, He prepares us for our tomorrows, while we are resigned to walking through our today.
God is sovereign; humankind is not.
The LORD is holy and righteous; saved sinners are clothed in His righteousness.
His Spirit was present there when we were conceived and when God numbered our days. He carries us through the “whatever and come what may.”
Christians have received God’s indwelling gift of His Holy Spirit who presently leads, comforts, and encourages us, as we walk through our days.
Truly, we are blessed to remember that oftentimes we just cannot know the “WHYS” to all our earthly questions. Yes, we who have believed in Jesus, who are the children of God, will one day be able to ask all our “WHY” questions, but for now, on this side of glory, we are, at times, left with our unanswered questions.
TRUST.
MERCY.
GRACE.
FAITH.
PEACE.
These are what we retain.
- Trust, knowing that we are held forevermore by Almighty God.
- Mercy, realizing how we are not given what we fully deserve for our sins.
- Grace, thanking the Father for His Amazing Gift of Salvation.
- Faith, understanding how we only need enough to walk through this one single day.
- Peace, praying with honest trust, reading Scripture, aligning our heart with God’s presence, carrying our worries to the King of kings, and exhaling what we were never meant to carry.
Jesus has His sovereign will. May our will be His will, whether sorrows come or joy. We are His, so we ask: “Help us, Lord and help us always exclaim, ‘Thy will be done.’ “
Thus, we recall how we are mere, weak vessels who cry,
“How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?” we ask, even while we remember how Jesus cared for His own.
“The apostles gathered together with Jesus;
(The Gospel According to Mark 6: 30-32 NASB)
and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught.
And He said to them,
“Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.”
(For there were many people coming and going,
and they did not even have time to eat.)
They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves”
Jesus notices when you and I are carrying too much for too long. So, why not decide right now, today, to get away, to rest with the Lord? Rest is an invitation to return to the One who restores us. May we each look seriously at what the Lord has allowed us to walk through, and may we prayerfully set aside today for a retreat, for a breaking away from the demands of our affliction, our burden, our pain—making space for His Solitude, Silence, and Rest, even when questions storm within us.