June 10, 2005

[Rev. Doc]

Time Alone With God

"After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,"
Matthew 14:23

Many times we might view our quiet times with God as time that can be spent in other "more profitable" areas or endeavors. However, all other areas of our lives suffer should we deny ourselves moments of isolation with the Lord.

In 1832, French engineer Ferdinand Marie Lesseps was traveling in the Mediterranean when one of the passengers became sick and the ship was quarantined. Lesseps was an active man, so the confinement was terribly frustrating for him. The many long hours aboard that isolated vessel, however, gave him time to read the memoirs of Charles le Pere, a man who had studied the feasibility of building a canal from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. That volume prompted Lesseps to devise in his own mind a detailed plan for the construction of the Suez Canal. When it was finally built under his leadership some 30 years later, it brought invaluable service to the world. That quarantine had proven to be immensely profitable.

Some of the greatest things we can learn will remain untaught to us unless we take those times of solitude.

Prayer: Ask God to help you make the time to be alone with Him.

"I must secure more time for private devotions. I have been living far too public for me. The shortening of private devotions starves the soul. It grows lean and faint."
~William Wilberforce

[TrigunX89]

Wow, this was very timely for me. I was just struggling with this issue. I've had a pretty busy day, and was contemplating going to bed, neglecting any time with the Lord. I guess I'll stay up a bit longer. As always, I appreciate the devotional.