Solitude

I do not like big crowded events. I don’t like loud noises. I don’t like congestion, or traffic jams, or long lines for anything. If I pull up to the drive through at starbucs and there are more than 2 cars ahead of me, I walk in. I’ve been known to leave a grocery cart full of stuff at the check out line when I find myself behind a row of moms with a week’s worth of food.

I am one of these people that actually likes to be alone.

Of course, you’re thinking, that’s why you aren’t married. Ha. Perhaps you’re right. Or perhaps you’re not. But what I do know is that the Lord has put me in a life where people demand my attention and my presence – and I’m thankful for that. I live in a big city, I go to a big church, and I work in a busy ER. Because of that, I have learned that the only way to face the throngs of people around me is to steal times of solitude in which my soul can be refreshed and renewed.

In Luke 9:10, it says that Jesus took the disciples with him and they withdrew by themselves. The context is interesting. The disciples had just come back from an amazing experience of being with crowds of people. They had been sent by Jesus to heal diseases and cast demons out in the name of Jesus Christ. They were on fire with excitement and energy. When they got back together to talk about it, Jesus’ response to them is – let’s go away for a while and regroup.

You cannot regroup in a crowd. Solitude is necessary for growth in grace and for renewal. I’ve heard it said that it is in the desert that the dew is freshest and the air most pure. How true that is. I need quiet times alone with the Lord on a daily basis in order to process what is happening in my life.

I know it can be difficult to carve that time out if you’re living in a house full of kids and a demanding husband (aren’t all husbands a little bit demanding?! Haha). It’s interesting that as Jesus takes his disciples away to regroup, the following verses describe how the crowds heard of it and joined them!! Jesus’ response was to welcome them. I love that. Sometimes plans for solitude get interrupted, and that’s ok. What followed was the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. Don’t be discouraged if finding times of solitude seem fleeting.

But if you can, make it a point to spend some time alone with the Lord on a daily basis. I read this poem in a devotional and was moved by it. I’ll end with it.

Come with me by yourselves and rest awhile

I know you’re weary of the stress and throng

Wipe from your brow the sweat and dust of toil

And in my quiet strength again be strong

Come now aside from all the world holds dear

For fellowship the world has never known

Alone with me, and with my father here

With me and with my father, not alone

Come tell me all that you have said and done

Your victories and failures, hopes and fears

I know how hardened hearts are wooed and won

My choicest wreaths are always wet with tears

Come now and rest; the journey is too great

And you will faint beside the way and sink

The bread of life is here for you to eat

And here for you the wine of love to drink

Then from fellowship with your Lord return

And work till daylight softens into even

Those brief hours are not lost in which you learn

More of your master and his rest in Heaven

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