“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest.”
-Matthew 11:28
I love people! I mean I love being around people, especially
my close friends and housemates pretty much all the time. I enjoy talking and
telling stories. I always say that two of my favorite ‘c’ words are ‘coffee and
‘conversation.’ Lately, however, God has begun teaching me something about the
importance of rest and time spent away from people.
Let me say this if you haven’t guessed it already, or if you
know me already you will for sure know this fact about me: I am an extrovert.
No doubt about it, but there is another category that dictates a lot about each
of us, and that is the factor of when it comes to processing life as a whole,
each person is either an external processor or an internal processor. An easy way to diagnose which one you are is
rather simple: when you think through situations, conversations and
interactions you have had throughout your day, do you need to talk about them
with another person to come to understandings about what you have experienced?
Or do you tend to quietly think about such things inside your head, and then
speak about them once you have drawn a conclusion?
If you are the type who needs to talk things through, you
are an external processor, while if you think about things inside your own mind
and draw conclusions that way, you are most likely an internal processor.
Now it would be easy for you to conclude at this point that
all extroverts are external processors and all introverts are internal
processors. However, this is not at all the case, as my two bests friends are
examples of this. One of them is an introvert who processes things externally,
while my other best friend is an extrovert who processes things internally. Which
am I you ask? Well I am an extrovert who processes things externally! Yes that
means I am the double whammy! I am the
person who truly talks ALL THE TIME!
Anyways that was a long introduction to tell you about what
I have been learning of late, which is that though I easily CAN talk all the
time, that doesn’t mean I SHOULD! Also, just because I CAN spend time around
people 16 hours a day easily, it doesn’t mean I SHOULD!
Jesus modeled this very well for each of us. You see He was
around people almost all the time, after all crowds followed Him everywhere,
and He spent many of His days teaching the masses for hours on end! However, we
are told several times throughout the Gospels that Jesus early in the morning
‘departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.” (Mark 1:35b)
If Jesus our Lord and savior took time to get alone with the
Lord and pray, I think it is essential for us to this as well. A great way to
do this for me, as I have discovered recently, I to go out into God’s beautiful
outdoor creation and spend time in prayer with Him, as well as participating in
one of my recent hobbies of photography.
I have come to cherish this time of late. I have begun to at
least once every couple of weeks, consciously take time to go out by myself to
a park, or even just out of for a walk in my neighborhood, for 45 minutes to an
hour and take pictures, as well as worship God for the beauty that is all
around me. Springtime in Cleveland Ohio is a great time for this, as the sun
finally starts to appear on a regular basis, and the trees leaves with their
varying shades of spring greens provide quite a canvas in the background of
one’s worship and prayer session!
What I have noticed is that I return from these hour long
adventures, with a refreshed feeling that is unique and like that of being
cleaned out within my heart. Oh I am not saying that all of my worries,
concerns and fears simply melt away or anything, but the courage to face them,
with Jesus’ help of course, is strengthened and renewed!
Not always does it need to be a time spent by yourself in
prayer either, as going to a movie by oneself can be as beneficial to our
heart’s health as a walk alone spent with the Lord. God can speak to us through
both.
I plan to continue to do this from this point foreword in my
life, as these recent weeks have been much more peaceful and enjoyable than I
have had in quite some time!
