Where Is Your Table for Two?

Have you ever been someplace where it was so loud that it was impossible to talk to the person next to you? In fact, after leaving, you say to that person, “It was so loud I couldn’t hear myself think.” Just curious, what does thinking sound like anyway?

Now, picture meeting your college roommate, whom you have not seen in many years, for coffee. You get to the coffee shop early and immediately look for a table in the corner, away from people, near the fireplace. My wife and I do date night every week, usually going out to one of our favorite restaurants. If we can, we look for a table away from the constant flow of people. Does the coffee or the food taste better at those faraway tables? Of course not. But to have quality time with the other person, without too much distraction and background noise, we often need to look for quiet places.  

The same can be said of our conversations with God. While it is true that God can speak to us in noisy rooms, in crowded coffee shops, in busy restaurants, and just about any other place, we often struggle to hear Him due to the endless distractions and interruptions. The problem is not God’s ability to speak, the problem is us being able to listen. Most often, God is not the loudest voice in the room. (Read 1 Kings 19:1:13, pay particular attention to vv.11-13.)

Throughout His life, Jesus withdrew from people, daily life activities, and the demands of his ministry to be alone with the Father and pray. After He heard that John the Baptist had been beheaded, we are told “he withdrew privately by boat to a solitary place” (Matthew 14:13). In Mark 1:35, here is what we read – “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” And on the night before His death, in the quietness of the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there (to a quiet place) and pray” (Matthew 26:36).

Even as the crowds grew, and He got busier and busier, Jesus knew he still needed to regularly get away from the noise and the people, simply to be alone with His Father. We find this in Luke 5:15-16 (GNT) – “But the news about Jesus spread all the more widely, and crowds of people came to hear him and be healed from their diseases. But he would go away to lonely places, where he prayed.”

Quiet time is also simply being silent and still in God’s presence, listening, meditating on His Word. We read this in Zechariah 2:13 – “Everyone, be silent! The LORD is present and moving about in his holy place.” Psalm 46:10 begins like this – “Be still, and know that I am God.”

If you want to hear God and allow Him to lead you, guide you, and direct your steps, then it is imperative to carve out time to be alone with Him, without interruption, without distraction.

So, where is your table for two?

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