In today’s world, we have no shortage of interesting things to give our attention to. Eating breakfast too boring? Watch a video while you’re at it! The drive to work too quiet? Listen to a podcast! Need to go to the bathroom? Why don’t you scroll on Instagram or TikTok while you do your business? I could continue, but I’m sure you know what I mean. Our lives are filled with distractions, headlines, and thumbnails waiting to grab our attention, but isn’t it exhausting? Surely there is something better and more fulfilling we can do with our time, right?
There certainly is, and in fact I believe it to be far simpler than we make it out to be. What is it? Stillness.
The practice of stillness is one modern society has largely fallen out of touch with; however, it’s one we see modeled in Scripture frequently. One such model is Jesus Himself. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus is a busy man. He’s constantly traveling, preaching and healing, all the while specifically training His 12 disciples in the ways of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Yet despite this, we continuously see Jesus prioritize time with His Father away from distractions. Luke 4:42 & 5:16 state that not only did Jesus take time to step away and pray, but He did so regularly. In Matt. 14:13-23, Jesus goes off to pray, gets interrupted by the 5,000, feeds them, then resumes His original plan and prays by Himself. Perhaps most significant of all, in Matt. 4, the first thing Jesus does after getting baptized is spend 40 days in the wilderness in solitude before beginning His public ministry.
Even with His busy schedule, Jesus valued time with God immensely. So how do we learn to do the same in our everyday lives? By starting small. Whenever you get a moment where you could fill it with a distraction, just breathe instead. Focus on God, and welcome Him into your mind. And then linger there for a minute. If you can, set a 5-10 minute timer where that’s all you do. Simple as that.
God wants to encounter and transform you, and when you make this practice a lifestyle, you intentionally open moments everyday specifically for encountering His love, returning to our original design of being children loved by our Heavenly Father. So give it a shot, and see how God moves in your life, I think you’ll find Him more fulfilling than another TikTok.