It's Ok To Be Alone

"Then John's disciples came to take his body and bury it. And they went to bring the news to Jesus. On hearing this, Jesus set out secretly by boat for a secluded place." - Matthew 14:12-13

Do you feel like you just want to be alone? Away from everyone and everything? You just don't want to deal with anything and you need your own space to get through whatever is going on in your head. When people see us get this way, their first reaction is usually to discourage us from being alone. They want to invite us out thinking we shouldn't sulk in our problems. I personally feel that we absolutely need to sulk from time to time. It's ok to be alone. And that's what Jesus did so many times. One thing people tend to put aside is that Jesus is human too. He hurt inside when bad things happened. Things disappointed Him. Things knocked the wind right out of Him. In the passage above, Jesus hears that John the Baptist, His cousin, had been murdered. How do you think Jesus felt? Is it any easier because He was God? No, don't think for a second that it was. It hurt Him deeply. He felt the same pain we feel, the disbelief, the feeling like we just can't breathe, sleepless nights. Jesus felt all of it. And what made it worse was that if John the Baptist was murdered, Jesus knew He would be next. Imagine the fear that entered His heart and mind at this point!

So what did Jesus do? He left to a solitary place all by Himself. He pulled away from everyone because He was depressed, sad, angry, scared, all of it. As a normal, healthy human being Jesus needed His own time to straighten it all out and get Himself together, so it's ok if we do the same.

But this is healthy only for a certain amount of time. When Jesus reached the shore on His boat, He found that crowds had followed Him there and He felt compassion for them. He took His time to be on His own to mourn and think things out, but at the end of the day, we were created for unity and among others in the presence of God is the only way to fully heal. However, until you're ready to come back out, take your time. Be like Jesus and go off to a secluded place to be by yourself. It's what Jesus would do.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for being an example to me. You lived and died so that I would have someone to look up to. Even when I want to be alone, I ask that You be my only company in getting through these tough times. In Your Name we pray, amen.