My niece and her two young daughters were visiting us when the baby – about a year old – suddenly started crying. My niece took the baby to the bedroom to feed and comfort her. As I was thinking about this loving mother stepping away from the family gathering to feed her child, I remembered that sometimes God also calls us away from the crowd to a solitary place. Many times we do not understand what the call means or why God is calling.

  

Making room in our busy lives for solitude and time to be alone in prayer nurtures a vital relationship with God and equips us to meet   the challenges and struggles of life. When we encounter sufferings – hardship,  heartbreak,  temptation,  sickness  or  broken  relationships – or even when we encounter new and exciting challenges, God calls  us to be present as Christ teaches us to take his yoke upon ourselves and learn from him how to find rest for our souls. Spending time alone with God helps us to grow spiritually more and more into the likeness of Christ.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to be alert to your ‘still small voice’ (1 Kings 19:12, KJV). Amen