Solitude Lessons from Jesus (#1)

Lesson 1: Put aside distractions
“And when He had sent the multitudes away...” (Matthew 14:23)
 
The multitudes, or crowds, are not necessarily a distraction, after all, Jesus ended up ministering to them. But they can be if they are a barrier to solitude. Put aside anything that will keep you from being alone with God.

Jesus was intentional about His time with God.
He didn’t wait until the crowds left.
He didn’t ask the disciples to convince them to leave.
He didn’t just avoid them and run off to a secret place.
He sent the multitudes away.
           
Most, if not all, of us know what the multitudes are in our own lives; the thing(s) we need to send away. Meet it head on. Any distraction, be it digital, physical, mental, emotional, vocational, financial, and so on, requires time. Where there is no investment of your time there is no opportunity for intimacy, or close connection.
 
 
Distractions are a time-killer; therefore, they are an intimacy-killer.


Have you heard of Parkinson’s Law? Parkinson’s Law is the adage that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. The term was first coined by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in a humorous essay he wrote for “The Economist” in 1955. He shares the story of a woman whose only task in a day is to send a postcard -- a task which would take a busy person approximately three minutes. But the woman spends an hour finding the card, another half hour looking for her glasses, 90 minutes writing the card, 20 minutes deciding whether to take an umbrella along on her walk to the mailbox…and on and on, until her day is filled.

Let’s look at a modern example. You want to start your day with Bible reading and journaling. You plan to set aside, let’s just say, 15 to 20 minutes. But because you know you have enough time, and don’t plan to get into so much material, you get derailed. While you’re opening your Bible and finding the next blank page in your journal, you decide to pick up your phone. You tell yourself that you’ll check out some “inspirational” reels or the latest devotional from dailyaltar.org (shameless plug), but then you end up spending ten minutes watching behind the scenes videos about tiny houses, or reels with beautiful destinations in Italy, that you will probably never visit.

Ultimately, the thing that should have been a delightful and focused effort turns into a I-shouldn’t-have moment. That’s Parkinson’s Law in action.

{Excerpt from Daily Altar, 7 Disciplines of a Power Couple}