where is your safe place? where can you go for quiet, distraction free time with God? In our last house, there was nowhere for this…except maybe the bathroom, and then with 3 kids, someone was bound to barge in at some point. so when we moved back into louisville, i was determined to have a house with an ‘extra’ space, even if it was literally a closet, where we could all go if we needed quiet or time with God. a prayer closet, as it were, for our family to use.

so the house we have now, which is a massive blessing, has several of these little places for us to go. these are our fortresses of solitude. the boys both have a space in their rooms (little attic places that i will finish off for them) I have a big space up in the attic that is mine ( i just have a towel in there to sit on for now), my daughter has her own bedroom, and my wife has her studio. we never imagined that we would have a house like this, but God held on to it for us…we moved into an area that our realtor was not thrilled about at first. he didn’t want us moving over here, but we love it. our street is quiet, it’s behind a church and our neighbors are all incredibly nice and watch out for each other.

Jesus’ trip out into the desert wasn’t meant to be a fun time. it was going to be grueling, lonely and crazy difficult to get through. a 40 day fast is nothing to sneeze at…if you have ever fasted for a few days, or even a week, imagine what it is like to do a long term fast. ask someone who has done one (if they even told anyone, which if they did, should have been very few people) what is was like. loss of energy, and muscle mass, and sometimes even the ability to concentrate. try just giving 1 thing up for 40 days…like tv or cokes, or meat. see what that’s like, then imagine it with all food, and in the desert. toss in some tormenting, heavy temptation pressure and the weight of loneliness and boredom. it is difficult to imagine, let alone pull off.

but even though all this difficulty was coming His way, Jesus’ attitude was amazing, His resilience definitely fell into the God-like category (which is good, since He is God)  and His example to us stays strong even today. After this time, it’s not uncommon to see Jesus slip off to be by Himself for quiet time with God.

there’s something about getting a spiritual smorgasbord that leaves you wanting more. so the returns to solitude for prayer became a vital part of His life and ministry. we need the same in our own lives. we need quiet time, dedicated quiet time that we can return to again and again for guidance, encouragement and writing out run-on sentences. expressing our hearts to God, confessing the sins that weigh us down, praising Him for the wonder of who He is and the work He does in our lives.

we need a fortress of solitude. we need quiet time with God. i am just now getting to the point where i feel like i am starting to give Him the time He deserves from my day, and i don’t want to let that go. so that’s why i encourage you to seek out a place where you can retreat, because i’m speaking from experience (not to boast.) i love my quiet morning time…it just takes  little effort and the desire to grow closer to God.

give it a shot.