Come Apart

When I was a child I enjoyed playing with other boys and got up to all sorts of escapades in the surrounding fields and extensive parkland. However, a lot of the time, partly because of family circumstances, I played quite happily on my own. You could say that I was something of a loner. As I grew older, attended college and found a job, this imbalance was addressed. However, after I became a Christian, for some reason I picked up that this childhood trait of aloneness must be wholly wrong. There is the negative aspect, but it has been only in recent years I have understood the strengths in being a 'loner!'

I enjoy being with people, but I also seek time apart on a regular basis to recharge my batteries and to be quite alone with Father. It's sometimes a struggle to set aside time, but I have found it absolutely essential in order to nurture this life-giving relationship and to understand what my own heart is saying. I can't separate the two, they go together. This is a need within me and I always know if I am neglecting the desire, because sooner or later I am crying out inside for it - for Him!

I always prefer to find places outside to be alone. I find it helps to keep my mind sharp and stop me dozing. I have my special spots - what I call my trysting places - that seem to encourage such intimacy, like a field gate in a secluded field, a ledge on the side of the cliffs or a spot on a deserted stretch of the beach. It's the solitude that's important and that can be quiet or noisy. Silence is precious and powerful, but there are times when I feel free and safe to let rip to God in praise or to express my feelings.

We are all different and need to find our own way with God. But one thing we all have in common, is that God has put that need for Him within us and only He can fill it. That means getting alone with God. If Jesus had to 'come apart' with His Father then surely so do we?

"When Jesus heard the news about John, he left there in a boat and went to a lonely place by himself. Matthew 14:13

"After sending the people away, he went up a hill by himself to pray. When evening came, Jesus was there alone;" Matthew 14:23

"Very early the next morning, long before daylight, Jesus got up and left the house. He went out of town to a lonely place, where he prayed." Mark 1:35

"At daybreak Jesus left the town and went off to a lonely place." Luke 4:42

All quotations from the Good News Bible