What does Tribe teach about solitude?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At Tribe, the teaching on solitude starts with a practical problem: most people who want to hear from God never get quiet enough to listen. Joy Abad brought this home through the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19, where God did not show up in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but in a gentle whisper. A whisper, as Joy put it to the congregation, requires you to get quiet, to lean in, and to remove other noise. That is not a spiritual extra for people with a lot of free time. It is the precondition for hearing God at all.
The teaching pressed on the connection between solitude and obedience. The Hebrew word shema, which appears in Deuteronomy 6 and throughout the Old Testament, carries listening and obeying as one inseparable act. Joy was honest about how easy it is to skip the listening half, especially for people wired to get things done. She put the tension plainly: "God, I'm doing all these things. And he's like, yeah. But who told you to do those things?" Solitude is where that question gets answered, because it is where the listening that makes real obedience possible actually happens.
The practical picture Joy drew came from three words in 1 Kings 19:11: go out, stand, be on the mountain. Leave your normal rhythms, be still, and find a state with no outside inputs at all. She was clear that this does not mean dramatic annual retreats. The suggestion was to start with a ridiculously small amount of time each day, something so small it would be harder to skip than to do, sit with a pen and paper, and ask God a specific question about what He wants you to know.
Taught from 1 Kings 19:9-13 · Deuteronomy 6:4-5 · Exodus 19:5-6 · James 1:22-24 · Matthew 7:26-27
“If you don't obey, you haven't listened. And if you're just doing, it is not the same as obedience.”
From Listen Before You Obey
The passage taught · 1 Kings 19:9-13
9 He came to a cave there, and camped there; and behold, Yahweh’s word came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He said, “I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
11 He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before Yahweh.” Behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before Yahweh; but Yahweh was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake; but Yahweh was not in the earthquake.
12 After the earthquake a fire passed; but Yahweh was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a still small voice.
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- February 5, 2024 Listen Before You Obey Joy Abad teaches Tribe church that true biblical obedience begins with listening, exploring the Hebrew word "shema" and how to quiet yourself to hear God's voice.
- February 4, 2024 The Simplicity of Listening A teaching on the Hebrew word "shema," showing why real obedience to God begins with listening, and how to create the quiet needed to hear His voice.