“I wish I had more time for prayer.” “I wish I could get some rest.” “I just wish things would slow down so I had time to think.”

Have you ever said (or thought) anything like this? Well, guess what. God is answering your prayers. The isolation forced on us by the current public health crisis is presenting many of us with a tremendous gift … TIME.

Of course, we still have responsibilities, and many who are forced to stay home are still hard at work. But with the cancellation of activities and the suspension of travel, we might find ourselves with more time on our hands than we are accustomed to.

I want to encourage us to enjoy this gift of extra time. Let’s beware the temptation to fill our down-time with meaningless noise. Every now and then, unplug completely. Get off Facebook, exit Netflix, and, please, turn off the 24-hour news channel.

“But what will we do?” you ask. Maybe we pray. Maybe we read Scripture. Maybe we just sit in silence. One of my spiritual mentors told me, “Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap.”

Whatever we do, let’s not view this down-time as a burden, but rather as a precious gift from God. Who knows? We might even find him renewing our souls.