Silence and Solitude
Did you know that goldfish have an attention span of 9 seconds? Yeah, I don't know how researchers found that out, but apparently, goldfish have an attention span of 9 seconds.
Guess what the average attention span of a human being is today? 8 seconds.
Apparently we have become so distracted by everything going on in our world today that a goldfish can focus its attention on something longer than we can!
But is it really that surprising when we carry a cell phone around in our pockets all day long?
The Statistics That Should Scare Us
The average person checks their phone 150 times per day, and 60% of us cannot go more than 10 minutes without checking our phones. What's crazier is that 30% of people cannot go 30 seconds without checking their phone!
But it's not even just the phones. According to a 2024 study, the average American spends 7 hours and 3 minutes looking at a screen each day. A Nielsen study found Americans over 18 spend 8 hours and 34 minutes looking at a screen daily.
And while we're on those screens, we're constantly scrolling from one thing to the next. The average person switches between tasks 566 times per day.
We live in a hyper-distracted, attention-deficit world.
The Cost of Constant Distraction
This isn't having a positive effect on our lives. Andrew Sullivan wrote this in an article titled, "I Used to be Human":
"Has our enslavement to dopamine — to the instant hits of validation that come with a well-crafted social media post — made us happier? I suspect it has simply made us less unhappy, or rather less aware of our unhappiness... This new epidemic of distraction is our civilization's specific weakness. The threat is to our souls. At this rate, if the noise does not relent, we might even forget we have any."
We live in a hyper-distracted world, and it's affecting our mental health, our souls, and our ability to live in real, authentic community with others.
But most importantly, it robs us of experiencing the intimate relationship we were created to have with Jesus.
This Problem Isn't New
One well-known Christian writer wrote:
"It is clear that we are usually surrounded by so much inner and outer noise that it is hard to truly hear our God when he is speaking to us."
You might think this was written by someone in today's culture, but this was written by Henri Nouwen in 1981.
If there was so much inner and outer noise in people's lives in 1981 that it was hard to hear when God was speaking to them, think about what that means for today when 60% of us can't go more than 10 minutes without picking up our phones!
You Feel It Too
My guess is that you feel that too. You feel the pull to check your phone, to see what's happening on social media or the news.
You feel the distractedness in your own life. You feel the lack of focus. You feel the lack of real, genuine relationships with others. And mostly, you feel the lack of intimacy with Jesus and desire to experience the abundant life you have in Him.
So what is the answer? Is there hope for us as we live in this hyper-distracted world?
Jesus Shows Us the Way
The answer is yes. We even see the answer in the life of Jesus as He lived in the middle of so much noise and busyness in His world.
"Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses..." (Luke 5:15)
This was right after Jesus had healed a man with leprosy. As word got out, more crowds of people came to hear Him speak and to ask Him to heal their sickness.
More noise. More people. More conversations. More interactions. More tasks to complete, moving from one thing to the next.
But look what Luke says in the very next verse:
"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." (Luke 5:16)
The word translated "lonely" here in Greek is eremos, and in other places it's translated "quiet place" and "solitary place."
Luke tells us that Jesus went to a quiet, solitary place to pray. And not just this one time. Luke says that Jesus OFTEN withdrew to a quiet, solitary place to pray.
JESUS WAS IN A RHYTHM OF RETREATING INTO SILENCE AND SOLITUDE.
Let me show you more from Scripture about this rhythm:
"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." (Mark 1:35)
"Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray and spent the night praying to God." (Luke 6:12-13)
"When Jesus heard [that John the Baptist had been beheaded], he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place." (Matthew 14:13)
This was a regular rhythm for Jesus. It was part of His lifestyle. He regularly pulled away from the noise, from the crowds, from His tasks and the distractions He faced, and He spent time alone with God the Father.
During that time, He prayed and He listened. He experienced the intimate relationship that He had with God the Father.
Why Did Jesus Need This?
But why? Wasn't Jesus always with God the Father? Wasn't He experiencing the Father's love and power through Him in the middle of His daily teachings, performing miracles, and interactions with other people?
Of course! But Jesus was experiencing what it was like to be fully human.
And humans face noise, distractions, and temptations. Maybe Jesus, being fully human, had to pull away from the noise, distractions, and temptations to clearly hear the Father's voice—to focus on Him, to talk to Him, and to prepare for what the Father was going to do in Him and through Him as He entered back into the noise of the world.
How God Speaks to Us
Part of the why behind Jesus doing this is because of what we're taught about the way God often speaks to us in other parts of Scripture.
In 1 Kings 19, we're told about an encounter that the prophet Elijah had with the Lord:
"Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper." (1 Kings 19:11-12)
God revealed Himself to Elijah through a gentle whisper—a still, small voice.
Maybe that's why we're told in Psalm 46:10 that the Lord says:
"Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)
Be still. Retreat to a silent, solitary place so that you can hear my still, small voice—what I am whispering to you.
It's really hard to hear that in the middle of so much noise in the world.
Jim Elliot, the famous missionary, wrote this in 1956:
"I think the devil has made it his business to monopolize on three elements: noise, hurry, and crowds... Satan is quite aware of the power of silence."
BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD
When is the last time you were still? When is the last time that you listened for His still, small voice?
Christ in You
This was a regular part of the life of Jesus, but guess where Jesus lives now? In you! (if you've put your faith in Him to be your Lord and Savior)
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." (Galatians 2:20)
Here's my point:
IF Jesus lives in you, and during His earthly life, He was in a rhythm of spending time in silence and solitude, THEN you can expect Him to lead you into this same rhythm in your own life.
My guess is that you feel that pull in your own life. You feel Jesus trying to pull you away from the noise, busyness, and distraction so that you can be still and know He is God.
If Jesus dwells in you, He will lead you into this regular rhythm of spending time in silence and solitude.
What Does This Look Like Practically?
So, what does a rhythm of silence and solitude look like?
In short: being still and knowing that He is God.
Carve Out Time
First, carve some time out. Sometimes this might be for 30 minutes or an hour, but other times, it might be a half-day or a full day, or maybe even a weekend or an entire week.
To be clear, we're not talking about a vacation. This is what we read about in Luke with Jesus: "Jesus often withdrew to solitary places to pray."
Find Your Place
Find a place away from your devices, away from your to-do list, away from the distractions in your life.
Take a walk. Go for a hike. Watch a sunrise or sunset. Go sit on your back porch. Find a closet in your house. Go sit in the restroom at work if you have to.
Wherever it is, just be still. Focus on Jesus. Set your heart and mind on Him.
Listen and Talk
Listen. Listen for His still, small voice.
Talk to Him. Spend time in prayer. Tell Him you love Him. Talk to Him about what's going on in your life. Invite Him into what is going on in your life.
Renew Your Mind
Renew your mind to His truths. Allow Him to bring those truths to your mind. Spend time reading those truths in His Word. Dwell on them. Meditate on them. Internalize them.
Just get away from the noise and distractions and truly enjoy His presence.
Return with Fresh Eyes
Finally, look for Jesus to send you back into the world with more of an awareness of His constant presence and how He is involved in the things you are a part of.
Here's how Henri Nouwen puts it in his book The Way of the Heart:
"The more we spend time with God and him alone in solitude, the more we will discover that God is with us at all times and in all places. Then we will be able to recognize him even in the midst of a busy and active life." (Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart)
Your Next Step
The invitation is simple: Be still and know that He is God.
In our hyper-distracted world, this isn't just a nice spiritual discipline—it's essential for experiencing the abundant life Jesus came to give us.
When will you take your first step into silence and solitude?
