Rays of Light

Just past a golden cornfield in the middle of nowhere, lies a very quiet, obscure refuge. Though I haven’t been anywhere near the place for decades, it did serve me well during my dreadful teenage years. Life was very bleak back then, almost more than I could bear, so I was very thankful to have my own private “sump” to escape to.

The sump was really a drain-off ditch for the fields during the rainy season. Few people even realized it was there because it was carefully hidden behind a wind-breaking wall of trees. For most of the year, the interior of the sump looked like a dry creek bed strewn with a few fallen trees – those were my chairs, or airplane seats, or whatever else my imagination needed them to be at various times. I spent many hours alone in the sump contemplating the complexities of life or simply crying; it was very soothing. Had I known God back then, I would have spent many hours praying in the sump, but it would be many years before I would come to know Him. Still, looking back, I am certain that He was there with me in that place of refuge even though I was unaware.

Jesus, our Messiah, also understood the need for quiet refuge, especially to pray:

And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone (Matthew 14:23).

And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed (Luke 5:16).

There are several other Scriptures which indicate that it was Jesus’ habit to go off alone for quiet times of prayer, too many too include here. It seems to me that if the Son of God, Himself, understood the necessity of going off alone to pray, then we, in our human frailty, should do so all the more.

Dear reader, we live in a hustle and bustle world that pulls at us from every direction. It is so easy to become overwhelmed! May I encourage you to purpose in your heart to find more time to go off alone to contemplate life’s complexities, or even to cry if need be. I promise, however, you won’t be truly alone. The Lord, Jesus, will be with you even if you do not know Him yet. He longs to spend time with you and He will meet you there.

I also recommend that you go off occasionally and have some “me-time”  for no reason at all, at least sump-times. After all, there is nothing like a bit of quiet solitude to soothe and refresh one’s soul in a frenzied, hectic world.