Can 7 Days of Quiet Change the Way You Hear God?

During the first few days at Summit, students often catch themselves reaching for a phone that isn't there.

It happens while walking across campus, waiting for someone, or sitting down with a few minutes to spare. Those little gaps used to have an easy solution: check a message, open Instagram, watch a video, find something to listen to. Then they arrive at Summit and, for most of the school year, that option is gone.

About a month into the year, we asked several students what they had noticed.

One Summit Senior described the change this way:

“The world actually looks like it's in color.”

That comment stuck with us because it sounds a lot like what we see around campus every year. Students linger around the table after meals and talk. They walk together, hike, play games, find new hobbies, and spend a surprising amount of time simply being around one another.

For students who naturally isolate, that can be a big adjustment. One Summit Freshman said social media had made it very easy for her to stay by herself. Without it, she has found herself in conversations she probably would have avoided before. A Summit Senior said conversations can now stretch on for hours.

“You can just talk for ages.”

The same open space shows up in students' spiritual lives. At Summit's first chapel of the year, President Dr. Teresa Conlon encouraged students to establish a “sacred center” in their day: a short period of time set aside to meet with the Lord and allow Him to speak personally. That sounds simple. In practice, it can be surprisingly hard. One Summit Freshman told us:

“It took me so much effort to sit down and open my Bible when I had easy distractions.”

Another student said that before Summit, he could leave a church service and immediately go back online. Now he is more likely to walk outside, think about what he heard, pray, and give himself time to process it with God.

Dr. Conlon's message that morning was called “The Power of Keeping It Simple.” She spoke from the story of Gideon in Judges 6 and encouraged students to hold on to the basic truths God gives them when their thoughts and questions start to pile up. That same simplicity matters here.

Jesus regularly stepped away from people and activity to pray. Mark 1:35 tells us that He rose

early, went to a solitary place, and spent time with His Father. Our students are discovering that having fewer digital distractions can make those kinds of choices easier. But they are also learning something else: You can still stay distracted without a phone.

At Summit, there are friends everywhere. There are games, hikes, classes, chapel, ministry, homework, and plenty of good ways to fill a day. A student can spend hours talking about the things of God and still need to deliberately make time to be alone with Him. That may be one of the most useful lessons of the unplugged experience. Removing something noisy creates an opening. We still decide what goes into it.

For most of us, eight months without a smartphone isn't realistic. But a little quiet probably is.

Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Our students suggested starting small:

• put the phone away before bed

• take a walk without headphones

• delete an app that keeps pulling you back in

• or spend five or ten minutes in Scripture before reaching for a screen

Pay attention to what happens when you do.

A 7-Day "Make Space" Challenge

You don't have to dramatically change your entire life tomorrow. Start by making a little room.

For the next seven days, try one simple practice each day and notice what happens. Screenshot or save the image below to help guide you if you'd like.

A month into another school year at Summit, our students are learning that unplugging doesn't magically solve everything.

• They still have to choose to open their Bibles.

• They still have to choose prayer.

• They still have to choose community instead of isolation.

• They still have to choose moments alone with Jesus even when friends, games, hikes, and plenty of good things are waiting just outside the door.

But those choices can look very different when there is finally room to make them.

Maybe you don't need eight months without a smartphone. Maybe you just need an hour tonight, ten minutes tomorrow morning, a quiet walk, or a Bible opened before a screen.

A few moments each day that become your own sacred center.

Sometimes making space for God doesn't begin with adding one more thing to an already crowded life. Sometimes it begins by turning something else down; and discovering that He's been waiting in the quiet all along.