Retreat

Jesus often retreated to be alone to pray and spend time with God. For example, in Mark 1:35, Jesus left the house early in the morning to pray in a solitary place. In Luke 6:12, Jesus spent the night praying on a mountainside.

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) stands in stark contrast. A quick concordance count reveals that words like “silent” or “silence” or “quiet” or “still” show up over 200 times in the Bible. In some cases, it is all of creation which stops to listen to the Lord: “But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him” (Habakkuk 2:20). In other cases, such as Psalm 46 or Psalm 62:5, it is a direct call to an individual. Surrounded by noise, it is not possible to hear God’s voice in the way we want and need.