Is your Bible study just accumulating knowledge or changing your life? Do you feel like you keep learning without absorbing?

Past the dunes, I saw no one and expected my family to emerge and ask what was for dinner. It was strange to be so utterly alone.  I reveled in the chance to pray aloud, sing with abandon, laugh at God’s creatures, and marvel at truths He unveiled from His Word. It was not loneliness. It was solitude.

Finding a deserted beach and hours to drink in the Lord is not common. Without some quiet, Bible study risks being just the accumulation of knowledge, unrooted in our souls.

Solitude releases our FEARS

~ Most of us resist being alone; it forces us to go beyond book knowledge to trusting God.  To be alone with Him is to rest in His sufficiency, as life’s challenges come to mind and His truth answers. Silence is the response of a heart filled with trust, strengthened on the beach of Solitude (Psalm 46:10). God wants us to “Be still and know” He is sufficient, powerful, and in control.  He wants us to let His truth soak in and overshadow our fears. Bible study is the fodder God uses to work out confidence in the circumstances of life.

Solitude replaces our DISTRACTIONS

 ~ Solitude requires self-control to create space. Instead of being swept away by life’s noise, we decide to remove distractions and restructure our priorities, to have the opportunity to meditate on God’s truth. We give Him access to our thoughts, so He can show us how His truth applies to our life. As our motion and words slow, we hear His authority over our own voice and that of the world.

Ecclesiastes 5:2  “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.”

Solitude redeems our TIME

~ When our minds settle on God’s truth, we experience His replenishing peace through the opportunity to hear and be refreshed by Him. In times of solitude, we can “Be still” and absorb the reality of His truth. We make a greater difference in our world when His truth has saturated our thoughts and taken root in our lives.

Finding your beach

Where is that beach, so you can go there? Fill your heart and mind with some Biblical fodder, and then carve out an opportunity for solitude, so God can speak to you above life’s noise. He will strengthen your faith and refresh your spirit there. Solitude may be captured when you least expect it:

• Instead of filling a 10 minute wait with a phone call, enjoy the solitude.
• Instead of using that corner chair for laundry, make it a special place for solitude.
• Instead of only filling your planner with work, block out space for solitude.

It’s possible for Bible study to become simply motion adding knowledge. Bible study soaks in when we practice solitude.

Have you found a creative way to carve out some solitude in your life?