Solitude

"He went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone" Matthew 14:23
Christ Jesus in His humanity felt the need of complete solitude...to be entirely by Himself...alone with Himself. Each of us knows how draining constant interchange with others can be and as much as it blesses us, it can be tiring also...running to drop off the kids at the babysittters, dealing with the unhappy cashier at the grocery store, not to mention the insanity of just driving these days..As part of humankind, Jesus knew and felt the need to be by Himself in order to pray and regain His strength. I think that solitude was also important to Him in order to fully realize His high calling, and in dealing with the human side that did get weak. He was totally dependant on His father.
As a child of God, how much more do we need times of complete solitude..times to deal with the spiritual realities of life and to be alone with our precious Lord and Savior. If there was ever anyone who probably could have dispensed with with special times of solitude, it was our Lord, and yet..even HE needed quiet times in order to fully maintain His full strength and power. . I believe that God desires that every child of His would understand and perform this practice, and that we would train even our own children to recognize this high and holy privilege, and that every believer would realize the importance of making time for God alone.
The thought of having God all alone to myself, and that He has me to Himself, is actually pretty exciting. Jesus said, "Go into your closet, close the door and pray". It is in the quiet solitude that we catch the deep and mysterious truths that flow from the soul of the things God allows to enter our lives.