Unplugged
"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Luke 5:16
Too much of something is not always a good thing. Day after day, minute after minute we are flooded with all types of information. We can find out what the weather is with the swipe of a finger, we can see what all of our "friends" are doing with a short scroll, order all the things we need with the click of a tab, and we can hear all the news we want with the push of a button. All good things, in and of themselves.
We are a generation of multi-taskers. Eating our lunch, while catching up on emails or comments, at the same time of determining what we are having for dinner or what we need from the grocery store, and running through the list of all the things we have to do after the kids get out of school. Information constantly running through our brains, all having to be processed in different ways according to the type of information it is. Our brain never gets a break. So even though we are "sitting" and "relaxing" our brains are still on the go.
Obviously, Jesus did not have the technology that we have bombarding him with loads of information every time we pick up our phone or turn on our computer or tablet, but Jesus did have people approaching him wherever he went either looking for healing & hope or looking to discredit what he was teaching. He had the good along with the bad, the supporters along with the naysayers, the needy along with the mighty. Something coming at him all the time.
Possibly overwhelmed by the amount of people "following" him 24:7, we read that he cut himself off. On more than one occasion when it seemed the crowds were just non-stop, or the Pharisees were hovering over him to make sure he dotted every "i" and crossed all his "t"s, just itching at the chance to show the people he did something wrong, Jesus withdrew. Jesus took a break from it all.
I think a lot of us, including myself, have souls that are pleading for a break. Pleading with us to withdraw to a lonely place and pray. We were created to have relationships with one another, but I'm not so sure we were made to be connected to everything all the time. I mean if we could be everything for everyone all the time we would be God, but we are not. He is the only one that can fulfill that lifestyle.
Vacations and time off from work are one thing. They help give us rest and enjoyable memories with our loved ones, but Jesus was not taking a vacation on these occasions. He was refocusing himself to continue to serve those here on Earth. After all, "the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve."
Sometimes we just need to be alone, in silence, in solitude, and wrestle with our thoughts, calling on clarity and understanding from the Word. When we take that time, like really take that time, our souls are settled in a way that brings us peace in the midst of calamity.
Take a walk, take a deep breath in, take a day off from your phone, whatever it is is that you need to withdraw from, do it. I can assure you, it will be time well spent.
With love,
Tori
Too much of something is not always a good thing. Day after day, minute after minute we are flooded with all types of information. We can find out what the weather is with the swipe of a finger, we can see what all of our "friends" are doing with a short scroll, order all the things we need with the click of a tab, and we can hear all the news we want with the push of a button. All good things, in and of themselves.
We are a generation of multi-taskers. Eating our lunch, while catching up on emails or comments, at the same time of determining what we are having for dinner or what we need from the grocery store, and running through the list of all the things we have to do after the kids get out of school. Information constantly running through our brains, all having to be processed in different ways according to the type of information it is. Our brain never gets a break. So even though we are "sitting" and "relaxing" our brains are still on the go.
Obviously, Jesus did not have the technology that we have bombarding him with loads of information every time we pick up our phone or turn on our computer or tablet, but Jesus did have people approaching him wherever he went either looking for healing & hope or looking to discredit what he was teaching. He had the good along with the bad, the supporters along with the naysayers, the needy along with the mighty. Something coming at him all the time.
Possibly overwhelmed by the amount of people "following" him 24:7, we read that he cut himself off. On more than one occasion when it seemed the crowds were just non-stop, or the Pharisees were hovering over him to make sure he dotted every "i" and crossed all his "t"s, just itching at the chance to show the people he did something wrong, Jesus withdrew. Jesus took a break from it all.
I think a lot of us, including myself, have souls that are pleading for a break. Pleading with us to withdraw to a lonely place and pray. We were created to have relationships with one another, but I'm not so sure we were made to be connected to everything all the time. I mean if we could be everything for everyone all the time we would be God, but we are not. He is the only one that can fulfill that lifestyle.
Vacations and time off from work are one thing. They help give us rest and enjoyable memories with our loved ones, but Jesus was not taking a vacation on these occasions. He was refocusing himself to continue to serve those here on Earth. After all, "the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve."
Sometimes we just need to be alone, in silence, in solitude, and wrestle with our thoughts, calling on clarity and understanding from the Word. When we take that time, like really take that time, our souls are settled in a way that brings us peace in the midst of calamity.
Take a walk, take a deep breath in, take a day off from your phone, whatever it is is that you need to withdraw from, do it. I can assure you, it will be time well spent.
With love,
Tori
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