Week 2, Day 5 – Patience

Week 2 – Day 5

“The Reading Room @ the Water’s Edge” (www.watersedge.tv/disciplines) begins its description of the spiritual discipline of solitude as follows:

“Solitude is the practice of being absent from other people and other things so that you can be present with God. In solitude, we rest from our attempts to re-create the world in our image. We rest from arranging our relationships and manipulating people with our words. In solitude, we say to God, ‘I am here to be changed into whatever you like.’ In solitude, we learn to ‘wait on the Lord.’”

If you possess a personality type like mine, we are energized by being around people. Large crowds don’t upset us; in fact, they’re exciting. We enjoy being in the center of the action. We will have more trouble with the discipline of solitude than our brothers and sisters with opposite traits who actually much prefer silence to noise, stillness to movement, and alone-time to group-time. But although my compadres and I have to work at this discipline and others don’t, solitude is not only essential to both character styles, it is also extremely helpful in assisting us all to build patience.

Some time this weekend, plan some time to be alone with God.

1. Think of the amount of time you’ll spend exercising solitude. Now stretch yourself. double the time you thought of and get alone with God for that long. For example, if your first thought was to be alone with God a solid 15 minutes, make it a half hour; if you thought of one hour, make it two; etc.
2. Get away from other people, the computer, the iAnything, and your cell phone – anything that could connect you with other people.
3. You can do just about anything except take a nap as long as you are alone with no one else around. (Hints: you might take a walk, enjoy the scenery from your front or back window, sit on a couch in a library, take a scenic drive, etc.)

During your time of solitude, concentrate on and think through with Jesus those issues that cause you to struggle with patience.

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©2012 Sharon Norris Elliott. Feel free to forward this devotion in its entirety, including this copyright line. Leave comments, ask questions, read past devotions, or subscribe to receive these devotions daily in your e-mail at www.sanewriter.wordpress.com. Also, periodically check in at www.LifeThatMatters.net to see what’s going on in the ministry.

And pick up a copy of Sharon’s new book, Power Suit: The Armor of God Fit for the Feminine Frame, available at Christian bookstores, online, from New Hope Publishers, and from the Life That Matters Ministries’ website.