Take time off for God

When winter hits the South Pole, the ‘polar night’ begins and the sun disappears below the horizon for over four months, plunging the South Pole into 24 hours of darkness every day.

To live in such prolonged darkness coupled with the bitter cold is unimaginable.

But explorer Richard Byrd challenged himself to live in this darkness for four and half months buried beneath the snow in a tiny room that he built. The room temperature dipped minus 50 degrees. Thrice a day, Richard would climb the roof of his room through a trapdoor to shovel-off the snow and then get into the darkness to record the temperature.

The world wondered why he did such a thing. In his book titled, Alone, he said he did it to get away from everything and do some serious thinking.

He wrote: “It occurred to me that there was an opportunity that I could choose to live the way I want to; obedient not to the necessities of life but to those imposed by the wind and night and cold and to no man’s law but my own.”

Loneliness is painful but being alone is rewarding. After a month of solitude, Richard realised something “good” happening. He writes that you can live life much more deeply and profoundly when you keep life simple and do not clutter it by clinging to too many material things.

He returned from his expedition a totally changed man. His book ends with these beautiful words, “All this happened four years ago. Civilisation has not altered my ideas. I live more simply now and with more peace.”

When we break away from our busy schedules to be alone with God, we discover our untapped energies, our real potential and also our frailties. We find real purpose in life.

In the Bible, we see how the prophets took time-off to be alone. Jesus himself often chose to be alone. ”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” (Mark 1:35).

Why clutter your day with too much work? Breakaway from the humdrum of life to be with God. God may have an important message, a caution or a blessing to bestow on you. Take time off, be with God.