Day of Solitude (Part II)

If you haven’t read the first part, you can find that here. In last week’s post, I discussed why I have developed the discipline of taking a day of solitude and a few tips from what I do. This week I want to share a few things God shared with me during my most recent day of solitude.

During that day, I looked through my quiet times for all of 2019. It’s not as daunting as one might think. Every month I write a summary of my quiet times so I don’t have 365 days to look through when I get to the end of the year. At the end of this post, I will attach two pages from my notes. They look organized, but trust me, that’s after tons of scribbles, underlying, etc.!

I also found my top three quiet times for the year. Again, not as daunting as one might think. I put a star (*) at the top of my journal page if my quiet time was a “gourmet breakfast!” I do not know how to explain it exactly, but its one of those quiet times that really blesses me. Some times it is because God speaks to the exact situation I currently have. Or sometimes it’s because I see a thread through all the different passages I read that day. Or sometimes God teaches and reveals something to me I have never seen. These quiet times only happen a few times a month, so again, not a ton to sift.

I think for the year 2019, my favorite quiet time came from April 5th. I read John 15, Isaiah 30, and Leviticus 5. Here are the verses I copied in my journal:

“every branch that does bear fruit He prunes that it may bear more fruit . . . ask . . . I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit . . . ask.” (from John 15)

“In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength . . . For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are those who wait for Him . . . He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as He hears it, He answers you . . . the LORD binds up the brokenness of His people and heals the wound inflicted by His blow.” (from Isaiah 30)

Here are some of the thoughts I wrote down that day:
“It is God’s prerogative to bear fruit in our lives when He wants. He is the Vine after all. Pruning is not meant to be easy. By consequence, pruning will mean a temporary lack in ‘fruit.’ But the pruning process is absolutely necessary to produce more fruit. God can’t do a new thing without pruning. As we abide, Jesus says to ‘ask’ in His name. So Father we ask for Your pruning to produce Your fruit that would bring You glory and honor.”
“Return, rest, quietness, trust, wait. These things are our strength and salvation from the Lord. Crying out to Him is our only option. He does cause brokenness and affliction (as tough as that sounds), BUT He also heals and binds up.”

There’s a pit in my stomach as I read the words I wrote. Have you ever asked God for something and then realized later it was a crazy thing to ask because you had no idea what it would cost? Why did I ask for pruning again? Can I take that back? Nope. God knows what He is doing and it’s necessary.

I remember Timothy Keller saying once that as we grow in Christ and follow Him, we recognize that is it costing us way more than we originally thought it would. But we keep going because the beauty of it is far more glorious than we ever could have dreamed. I can relate to that on so many levels in my life right now. If I am honest, currently the cost seems too high. So thank God for a quiet time like this to remind me of His promises. He prunes in order to bear more fruit. He afflicts, but heals and binds up the wounds.

As I reflected on this quiet time, it reminded me of a rose bush my husband planted in a planter on our porch. It blooms all year round where we live. And when it blooms, it produces the most vibrant pink roses. Check it out!

But right when everything is in full bloom and its looking amazing, its time to prune it. Then is looks like this:

Nothing, not even a single rose bud and not very appealing to behold. But even though we can’t see it, this plant is hard at work. It is healing from the cuts caused by the shears. It is using the sun’s rays, nutrients from the ground, and water to produce energy for new growth. Soon, there will be tons of little buds sprouting. Then each bud will go through the process of struggling to fully open. But when they do…. it is sure gorgeous!

I hope this quiet time blesses you today and encourages you to remain in the Vine, even during pruning. He is faithful to heal the wounds inflicted by His blow.

OH! And here are some more thoughts from my day of solitude if you want to take a look!