Wednesdays in the Word

Solitary Places

I love the verses about Jesus going off to a "solitary place" to pray.

When I think of a "solitary place" in my life, I'm reminded of a mountain top overlooking my hometown, where I used to go and pray, the summer that I was 21. It was a lonely time because my boyfriend (and future hubby) had broken up with me and moved 3,000 miles away to help start a church. My sister was traveling around Europe and two of my dearest friends had moved away. But the lessons God taught me in that sometimes-filled-with-tourists and not-always-so solitary place, changed my life. : )

Years later, as a mom of toddlers, I only wished I could go off to a solitary place   LOL
and the bathroom had to due. ; )

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." Mark 1:35

"At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them." Luke 4:42

Sometimes Jesus took other people with Him to solitary places.

"Six days later, Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and brought them up a high mountain to a solitary place." Matthew 17:1

"Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.' So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place." 
Mark 6:31-32 

And another time, He delivered a man who had been driven to a solitary place by a demonic spirit.
Don't you feel for this man who wasn't in a solitary place by choice?
How many people are in that situation today?

"For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had  been driven by the demon into solitary places." Luke 8:29

Mark 4:28 Tells us that on Jesus' way to heal this man, he encountered quite a storm.
But Jesus "got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm." 

His life shows us how beneficial these times can be for our walk with God and this occasion can serve to remind us that He won't ever let anything stop Him from meeting us in our solitary place. : )

~Becky