Jesus needed some alone time—so do we

Hardly anyone would ever suggest that Jesus was anti-social. He sought people out, asked strangers to follow him, allowed crowds by the thousands to surround and touch him; he even requested to dine in many of their houses. He was, without a doubt, a people-person.

But not always.

Although truly the incarnation of God, Jesus was human in every way. All the things that irk and wear us out, irked and wore him out too. People frustrate us. They frustrated Jesus too. Long days make us weary and on-edge. They also made Jesus weary and on-edge. Large groups tend to agitate us and make us feel claustrophobic. Jesus felt smothered, cramped and consumed on countless occasions as crowd after crowd tracked him down—to the point where he repeatedly had to run and hide—escaping to the hills, the woods, even into small boats to smuggle himself undetected out onto the Sea of Galilee.

While there were no “WTF” acronyms back in first-century Palestine, you can bet our Lord experienced reaching the end of his rope at times. He needed a break … and took them often.

So take a break.

Get away from people—even friends and family for a little while. Withdraw like Jesus did to a place no one will find you. He utilized those times to relax and renew himself—to spend some quality time alone with his heavenly Father. For us, it’s hard to get in tune with God when people are chatting, kids are yelling, co-workers are interrupting, and especially when texts and emails are beeping-in every two minutes. Jesus found it difficult to enjoy valuable time with his Father amidst his own daily distractions, which is why he so often snuck away from it all. He himself couldn’t always tune-out the world while he was in the middle of it. He had to break away. He had to escape. He had to … well … avoid others from time to time.

We do too.