The Lonely Places

Our Lord Jesus often withdrew to lonely place, "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." (Luke 5:16). En masse prayer is often emphasized in the Church, and for good reason, "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:20). However, just as there is time to pray in numbers, there is a time to go to lonely places and pray alone, "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." (Matthew 6:6).I think in this age of insatiability and total access to information it has become difficult for people to do this. For one, the lonely places are disappear as men devour the Lord's pasture, "Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard, They have trampled down My field; They have made My pleasant field A desolate wilderness. They have made it an empty wasteland; I hear its mournful cry. The whole land is desolate, and no one even cares." (Jeremiah 12:10-11). Beyond that the problem is that we imagine Jesus always wanted to be with people because of the movies. Well the truth is Jesus distrusted man, "But Jesus didn't trust them, because he knew human nature. He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man," (John 2:24-25) which is explained as the following, "For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world." (1 John 2:16)

The Lord went to lonely places, not to be antisocial, but to see His Heavenly Father. This often happens to us, we enter a dry spell, when we have been oversaturated with socializing or become to busy that our spiritual life becomes hollow. Sunday services may be attended, but we neglect the Scriptures and the quiet time with the Lord Jesus that helps us stir through life and survive. There is a crisis of excessive business these days, a workaholicism that has no work just buzz. This constant occupation of our time and energy is because of restlessness in our souls, and the only answer to to enter into God's rest, "Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light." (Matthew 11:28-30). As the scholar Augustine of Hippo once said, "Our souls are restlessness until they finds rest in you." It is when we go to those lonely places as Jesus did, that we hear and feel what lies inside our broken hearts, hurting souls, and hungry spirit. I am not advocating becoming a hermit, I think excessive isolation is dangerous and in contravention of Scripture, "not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25). We need people, for God said, "The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." (Genesis 2:18). But sometimes amongst the socializing, we need to be still and go to a lonely place to face our loneliness and take it to the Lord Himself. While companionship with people can be soothing to soul, it can also be strangling, for sometimes in midst of crowds we feel loneliest.

Jesus did not withdrawal forever, He had twelve disciples (Matthew 10:2) and five hundred other followers (1 Corinthians 15:6). The model of asceticism and hermits is not found in the New Testament. On the contrary, the Apostle Paul on more than one occasion denounces monastic practices, "These rules and regulations have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh." (Colossians 2:23). The lonely places is somewhere you can get alone and pray, to seek the Lord. For we must remember the two great commands are to "Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:36-41). When we get alone and pray, we fulfilling the first command, when we are with people we fulfill the second and third commands (John 15:12, John 13:34-35). Withdrawing to lonely places is to reconnect with the LORD, but that does not mean its only means. You can meet Christ in public worship, and with other people, "where two or more gather in my midst." (Matthew 18:20). The point of the lonely places is to have God search your heart, speak privately about matters, to address loneliness in your own soul, and to have one on one conversation. Just as it is enjoyable to be with a gang of friends, it is also is enjoyable to be one on one with a friend, the latter builds more intimacy, the former creates memories.