2.Solitude with God

Solitude means being with God—being with Him alone. Ask yourself: in your life, have you made space and time to be with God in this way?

Why is it so important that Jesus went up on the mountain to be alone with God, to be with Him and Him alone? It is important because it is in that time of solitude that we can quietly hear the voice that calls us “My beloved child.” Prayer is taking the time to listen to that voice—the voice that calls us “My beloved daughter,” “My beloved son,” “My beloved child.” Prayer is allowing that voice to speak into the deepest part of who I am, and letting it echo throughout my whole being.

Who am I? I am God’s beloved child. When Jesus came up out of the waters of the Jordan after being baptized, He heard a voice from heaven say: “You are my beloved Son; with You I am well pleased.” And Jesus says to you, as He says to me, that we are deeply loved by God—just as He Himself is deeply loved by God. That same heavenly voice speaks the same words to you. And if you do not recognize that voice, you cannot truly walk freely in this world.

Jesus lived every moment in obedience to that voice, and that is why He was able to walk through His life with such clarity and strength. The people around Him responded in different ways—some cheered for Him, while others mocked Him; some praised Him, while others rejected Him; some shouted, “God saves!” while others shouted, “Crucify Him!” Yet in every circumstance, Jesus held on to one unshakable truth: “I am God’s beloved child; I am His delight.” He remembered and believed that voice with all His heart.

But there were also many other voices crying out loudly: “Prove that you are the Son of God.” “Prove your worth.” “Show what you can contribute.” “Do something to prove yourself.” “Show that you truly live up to your name.” “At least accomplish something so that people will love you, so that they will admire you and say you are great.”

There were other voices—loud voices—saying: “If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread so we may see.” “Throw yourself down from the temple, and then people will know who you are.” “Show us your power so that we can see your influence. Isn’t this why you came into the world—to make an impact?”

These were the voices that came immediately after Jesus was baptized, right after He had heard the heavenly voice say, “You are my beloved Son.” The voices of the world tried to drown out the voice of the Father.

Jesus said, “No, I do not need to prove anything. I am already the beloved Son of God.”

I love Rembrandt’s painting The Return of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11). In the painting, the father embraces his child—his son, his daughter—touching their face and saying: “You are my beloved child. I will not ask you any questions. No matter where you have gone, no matter what you have done, no matter what others may say about you, you are still my beloved child. I hold you safely in my arms, I shelter you under my wings. You may come to Me, for My name is Mercy, and My name is Love.”

If you can hold this truth in your heart, then no matter how much success or failure you experience, you will never lose your identity or your worth. Your true worth is this: you are God’s beloved child. Long before your parents, your brothers and sisters, your teachers, your church, or anyone else who has either loved you deeply or hurt you deeply—long before any human affirmation or rejection—the voice from heaven has already been speaking: “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” This eternal love existed before you were born and will remain after you leave this world.

Our fifty, sixty, seventy, or even one hundred years on earth is far too short a time to respond to that voice with, “Yes, Lord, I love You too.” God, in the most humble of forms—in the manger, and on the cross—comes before us, pleading and asking with longing: “Do you love Me? Do you love Me? Do you truly love Me?”

Once you know your identity as God’s beloved child, your ministry begins. Your freedom is deeply rooted in the confession that you are His beloved. This gives you the strength to go out into the world to touch others, to heal others, to encourage them with the truth, and to remind them that they too are God’s beloved, chosen, and richly blessed. When you recognize that you are beloved, you will begin to see that others are beloved as well. This becomes your motivation to keep going forward. The more you experience God’s eternal and unchanging love, and the more you live out that truth, the more you will also see in the fellowship of believers—your brothers and sisters—that they too are deeply loved by God. This is the greatness and wonder of God’s love.

But this is not easy. Jesus spent the whole night in prayer. This shows us that prayer is not something we naturally desire to do. It is not simply a feeling that arises on its own. It is not just a voice we can always hear with our ears. God’s heart is greater than the human heart, His thoughts higher than human thoughts, His light so great that it could blind our eyes and make us feel as if we are in darkness.

Yet you must pray. You must listen for the voice of God calling you “My beloved.” If not, you will spend your life seeking affirmation, praise, and success from others. And when you do that, you are no longer free.

If each day you could do nothing else but sit quietly for half an hour, taking even a single simple word from the Gospels and placing it before you—for example, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”—and repeating it three times in your heart, you will realize how far from that truth you actually are, because you still want so many things. That is why you are anxious and restless. But if you continue to meditate on the truths of Scripture—true truth—and let those words sink slowly from your head into your heart, they will eventually be written on the sacred place within you that belongs to God alone. Then you can begin your day—interacting with colleagues, working, meeting family and friends, and engaging with the people you encounter in daily life. But first, you must give God the best time of your day, before you go out into the world to meet others.

The problem is, as soon as you sit down to be quiet, distractions flood in. You think, “Oh, I forgot to call my friend before the meeting.” Your mind becomes like a banana tree full of monkeys, jumping and chattering everywhere.

It is not easy to sit quietly and trust that God will speak to you through solitude. It is not as if you will immediately hear a spectacular voice. But over time, He will allow you to recognize His answers through your life. The voice of God, rising from the depths of your heart, will guide you in how to live.

Spiritual ministry flows out of solitude with God. Jesus withdrew to solitude to listen to the voice of the Father. We too must learn to listen to God’s voice through solitude.

Sometimes I imagine life like the wheel of a cart with many spokes. At the center of the wheel is the hub. In ministry, we often feel like we are running frantically along the rim, trying to connect with people everywhere. But God says: “Live from the center, from the hub. Then you will be connected to all the spokes, and you won’t have to run so frantically.”