In the Stillness

       How often are you around people? Most of the time?

       A lot of people absolutely hate being alone.

       They think that it means you don't have friends, they fear being bored, etc.

       However, how much can God teach us when we're in a noisy room, filled with people? I'm not limiting God, by no means. I do think, though, that alone time is much needed.

       I've been thinking about this a lot. Sometimes I wouldn't want to come home from school because I knew my friends weren't there. I procrastinated with homework, studying, and most importantly, my relationship with God because I always wanted to be with someone.

       However, being alone has its perks. When we're alone, we tend to be quiet. It allows us time to think. Sometimes we may even find ourselves praying more. It is in these still, quiet moments that God can truly speak to us. We have to listen, though.

       When someone invites me somewhere, I usually jump right on the opportunity because I don't want to miss out. Miss out on what? Temporary fun? When God speaks to us, we treasure those moments forever. Fun doesn't last forever. We have to go to school in the morning, work in the afternoon, homework in the evening, etc. God's Word is eternal. His words, whether they be rebuking or "Well done" are the most important conversations we'll remember.

       He is our light, our life. He deserves our time. We need alone time, as well. We need it to de-stress (I hope that's a word...) from the everyday events of life. We justify our fun by saying we need to "get away". Being alone is much more stress-relieving.

       I'm not saying "Don't ever go have fun. Resist temptation; go be by yourself." I most definitely agree that there are benefits in fellowship and having fun with friends. But remember: even healthy things are only good in moderation. You can't only eat apples everyday of your life. Apples are good for you, however they lack several vitamins, proteins, etc. that we need in order to survive. That's why it's called a balanced diet. Same way with our life: we need to balance our alone time so that we don't get too drained out or become too lukewarm in our relationship with God.

       So take some time this week to just be by yourself: just you and God.