Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Finding Communion in Solitude




The communication calendar tells me it's time for a blog post. Usually, Mike and I confer on a topic, I write it, and he approves (or disapproves as the case may be). But since Mike is still on sabbatical it falls to the ghostwriter to come out of the shadows and write this month’s blog. 

Surfing the Internet yesterday for something to prompt my creative juices, I found a familiar discipleship theme: the importance of community. Ed Stetzer is only one of many reminding believers that “discipleship is a group sport—best done in community.” I couldn’t agree more. But my own experience of late has been more solitude and loneliness than community. Yet, even that can be a growing experience, if we allow it.

My husband and I recently moved from Florida back to Iowa. Though the Midwest is “home,” our new lodgings are not in a familiar city. We’re still learning our way around, have yet to locate a church home, or become well acquainted with the neighbors. Working from home, my community is almost exclusively online. Most of my day is spent in solitude.

During my morning quiet time, I started reading Dallas Willard’s Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God. In my loneliness, I would like someone to carry on a conversation with. Why not God? I’m not sure what I was expecting. When you’re desperate for the sound of another voice, I guess you’ll try anything. I didn’t really expect to physically hear God, though I believe he does occasionally speak audibly to some people. In contemporary life, we’re probably more familiar with (and apt to experience) God speaking in a still small voice. 

In a lectio divina exercise from I Corinthians 2, I think I arrived at a clearer understanding and discovery of how that works. The passage contained these familiar lines, 

“‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him’—these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God” (emphasis mine).

The Spirit, Willard reminds us, dwells within those who believe in Jesus. That Spirit searches my heart and surprise, surprise—is also searching the depths of God himself and sharing that with me. Rather than be afraid of what God might find in me, could I, should I be more attuned to “discovering” the depth and intricacies of God? In knowing more of him, will I understand myself better? I believe so. I need to be more willing to explore, ponder, question, what God is saying and doing within me. For that is the conversation he wants to have with me.

Community is essential to healthy discipleship. Communion with the God who created us for community is equally important. Whether you find yourself in a season of a small or seemingly nonexistent faith community or surrounded by believers who sharpen you as iron sharpens iron, I encourage you to take time to commune with God, listening for the still small voice and searching the depths of God. 

As my experience shows, there are seasons in our spiritual journey when we need or are called to a different level or type of community. In the DiscipleForward workshops Dr. Mike Johnson provides valuable information for pastors and church leaders regarding the size and nature of groups that people need at various stages in their pilgrimage. That’s only one aspect of adult discipleship Mike covers in these half-day sessions. Look for one in your area and register today.

Judy Hagey
Communications Assistant