Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty; I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.’ – Psalm 91:1-2
When was the last time you were intentional about spending some quiet time with God? Now, you might say, “Well, I spend time with God every day when I’m traveling in my car.” The problem with that is it’s not intentional. Not to mention, it’s nearly impossible to not be distracted by other drivers or what’s going on around us as we’re zipping along.
I’m talking about one-on-one quiet time with God. No people. No cellphones. No interruptions.
To be totally honest with you, I really suck at this. It’s almost like I have an aversion to being still and quiet by myself. I read about some of these (weird) people who’ve completely disconnected from society and choose to live totally “off the grid.”
But the more I think about it… maybe they’re not weird at all. Could it be that they simply decided to seek an existence that’s more purposeful and unattached from all the superficial trappings of life?
There’s something about that that sounds pretty inviting to me. Maybe I’m the weirdo for not pursuing more of that type of life for myself?
In a roundabout way, God invites all of us to do this.
We don’t have to take to the mountains like paranoid doomsday preppers to escape all the commotion and pressures of modern life. Besides, most of us couldn’t even if we wanted to. But what we can do – what we must do – is regularly disconnect from the world’s noise in order to reconnect with God.
Psalm 91 invites us into the shelter of the Most High. That’s not a bunker or a cabin in the woods – it’s a spiritual place of refuge. A quiet place of communion where we rest in the shadow of the Almighty, and become recharged by His presence.
We don’t need solar panels or a remote zip code to live “off the grid” spiritually. What we need is intentionality. We need a quiet space – maybe a quiet room in the house, a bench at an empty park, or a peaceful spot by a stream… someplace where we can shut out the static of the world and sit still before our Creator.
In those moments, we clear out the mental clutter and open our hearts to God. We give Him our full attention and allow Him to speak into the parts of us that we usually keep buried underneath layers and layers of distractions. Suddenly, peace begins to settle in again. And this is where purpose is renewed.
Spiritual “off the grid” living is something we can practice every single day. We don’t have to disappear from the world, but we do need to withdraw from it regularly – even if only for a little while – to dwell in God’s presence and rest under His shadow.
Do you have your own personal shelter of the Most High – a place you can go each day to be still with God?
What distractions need to be unplugged so you can recharge spiritually, even if only for 10-15 minutes per day?
As Jesus said to Martha, who was busy cooking and cleaning and complaining to Him that Mary wouldn’t help her: “Few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” – Luke 10:42
Don’t allow life to take away what is better for you.
Former Blackout Artist 