September 23, 2017 - Church at Worship

When was the last time you were truly alone? When was the last time you were truly silent? The truth is really quite simple: our lives are filled with noise pollution and space congestion. It seems that no matter where we go, it is difficult to experience true quiet and legitimate solitude. When we get in the car to drive to work, we flip on the radio. We get to the office where we are surrounded by the noise of others at work. We go to the gym and put in our ear buds. We come home and flick on the TV. And then, finally, we fall into bed at night and can’t fall asleep because of the neighbor’s barking dog. And what about solitude? Everywhere we go, there are people. Crowds at the mall. Traffic on the freeway. Hordes at the theme park. Flocks of people at the beach. It can truly become overwhelming! There are any number of reasons why such realities can cause concern, not the least of which is found in what the Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle once said: “Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves.” If that is true, then it is hard for those of us who live in southern California to believe that anything great is being fashioned. There are just too many people, and there is just too much noise! In particular, that is cause for concern when we pause to consider that when God called people to do something great, He often began by sending them to the desert where solitude and silence were on every hand. In this environment, He then worked on them so that He could afterward work through them. Maybe God wishes to do the same with us. Jesus once said: “Come apart to a solitary place . . . .” Will you? Randy Roberts, Senior pastor