Solitude vs Isolation: Be Still • Mark 6:30-46

The fall we're going to pick up in 1st Corinthians and start making our way through at that letter that Paul wrote to that church. I want to read this year to you and Mark chapter 6 starting in first 30 the apostles return to Jesus and told them all that they had done and taught. And he said to them come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest awhile. The disciples have been sent out and they were doing works of just a Ministry and sharing about the kingdom of God in the power of the kingdom and they come back to give testimony of all that has gone on through them and the words of Jesus are come away for awhile and rest. Let's continue to read how this plays out for many were coming and going and they had no leisure even to eat and they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves how many saw them going and recognize them and they ran their on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of him and when he went ashore he saw a great crowd and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a Shepherd. He began to teach them many things and when it grew late his disciples came to him and said, this is a desolate place. The hours now late send them away to go into the surrounding Countryside and Village and buy themselves something to eat. But he answered them you give them something to eat and they said to him she'll be going by 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat. He said to them how many loads do you have go and see and when they found out they said fish 5 5 and 2 fish then he commanded them all the sit down and groups on the green grass. So they sat in groups on the green grass by hundreds by 50s and taking the Five Loaves and the two fish. He looked up to heaven and set a blessing and broke the Loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. He divided the two fish among them all and they all ate and were satisfied and they took up 12 basket and those who ate the laws were 5000 immediately. He made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side. And at which point they would hopefully find rest in a break. How many of you in here are introverts? Maybe you like Michael said to get the halfhand of introverts don't do this. Do they? All right my extroverts you're like absolutely I'm out there. I'm an extrovert. I'm happy. I'm always talking to people introvert sometimes get a pretty negative connotation with who they are. And so is you are introverted which is probably a good 60% of this really you didn't raise your hand may be out of fear that somebody would actually notice you and maybe want to have a conversation with you and conversation are draining. They take from you and if you've been around redeemers for sometime, one of the things that we talked about a lot and in fact, we're going to get into it over the next couple of weeks is this aspect of community and for introverts. We think that becoming a Christian means becoming an extrovert. That's what it can sometimes feel like and seem like in our lives that introverts. I got a good one for you. Today. We're going to make the extroverts a little uncomfortable. Amen. Hey, man, I was the quietest evening cuz the extroverts don't like it. We're going to make you all a little bit uncomfortable here this morning because we're going to look at this morning is Solitude versus isolation and the rhythm of being still and knowing that he is God. Solitude and isolation can sometimes be used interchangeably in our culture today when we hear those words what it conjure is up in our mind is this idea of aloneness of getting away by ourselves? Whether I use the word solitude or isolation you think of maybe getting by a Riverside out in the woods some of your mom's think of it in the closet with it shut and some cookies as your kids are running around outside. That's the quiet place. We think of those words in the same terms, but they're out solutely used differently and have different meaning behind them. When it comes to this idea of isolation isolation is not actively sought out typically it's typically actively avoided but it is forced upon whether from the outside people not wanting to have anything to do with us or maybe certain circumstances and situations that we safe. I just have to get away from this anybody ever said those words now we can think in our mind. I just have to get away from this. I'm going to go have some Jesus time. What's drying you to that Jesus time is isolation not actually Solitude we're going to focus the latter half of this morning on Solitude is something that is actively sought out solid to in terms of Christianity the gospel is intentional set apart time in order to seek the face of God. It has an intention ology that comes behind it. What I want to do this morning is first deconstruct. What isolation is and what isolation is actually harmful and why we can't think of isolation as an idea of like something that's good and in my life and praise God it is happening in the first thing we see this morning and we're going to walk through is that isolation? Is a tactic of the enemy now if you were with us through 1st Peter, some of this is going to sound familiar and that is incredibly intentional because the truth has not change it for us to have this reminder this morning on Justice little snippet is incredibly important isolation is a tactic of the devil. The devil wants us away from Community. The devil wants us away from the truth of scripture. The devil wants us away from places that would actually speak hope and love and kindness into our lives and the truth of God speaking over us and wants to isolate us into a place where not only our inner critic rips us apart on the inside or inner voice our inner critic ghost. Why is this happening? What is going on in my life? I must be a horrible person or they are terrible and caused this to happen to me and our inner critic begin. Analyze the situation when we're alone. Where is in community? And the presence of others people can begin to speak into us only set apart ourselves into isolation. We become enslaved into the trappings and the snares of the devil and the devil isn't going to show up with a baseball bat and beat you over the head. He's not going to run you over with a car out there this morning he's going to take what is already inside of you is even going to take the very words of God and he's going to twist them distort them in order to try to deform you into His Image Proverbs. 18:1 says one who has isolated himself seeks his own desires. He rejects all sound judgement. Now this proverb. Is hitting on the idea of how isolation is horrible because it allows for our own inner judgment or own inner critic or own inside voice to be the determining factor in all our decision making our emotions and our feelings. Got any outside voice speaking into us what you become a very dangerous place. When all we do is listen to our own voice and as we talked about and noted our own voice as a tendency to always remember the bad. It's very quick to forget the good. Here's the example that we used overtime no matter how many times somebody said. You're lovely your wonderful your kind. You all revert back to that fifth grade boy that pulled your pigtails and said, you're ugly. That's the one thing that we constantly remember no matter how many times if you're married or have children. They said you're a wonderful parent. You're a wonderful spouse you are fantastic and kind we remember the one time that they cut us down and hurt us with their words. It's about inner critic at enter voiced isolates on that topic and it begins to Na and eat at us on the inside and the enemy uses isolation to deform into the image of evil the devil and to ruin our hearts and our souls telling us. Nobody loves us. Nobody cares about us. We can never do anything, right? And how many blogs and books and songs come back to this idea of somebody who is under the authority of a parent who is just distant not there and they sing and write and talk about the hurt and that's all that they remember and then in our own hearts are begin to think I can't be lovely those that reason closest to me don't love me and this is nothing new and happened in Genesis 3 in the garden with the twisting of the words of God. It happened when Satan came to Jesus when he went into the Wilderness to drown out after that baptism. He's spending time with the Lord and his fees through the following is feasting are fasting. Pardon me not feasting. He is fasting. All right, it is rough out there and you know what the enemy comes and twists the words of God and distorts the words of God. I'm going to do you can't trust God? You can't trust him. You can't trust God with your health. You can't trust God with your safety. You can't trust God to come through this actually trickles down into every aspect of our life when it comes to this idea of trusting God the enemy wants to pull us apart and say you can't trust what God says about finances. God says about the world today and the enemy wants to come and twist and it happens when when places isolation. He plays I'm with already inside of us. Isolation will cause us to reflect and feel self-pity and in self-pity that is a place that almost always leads to send self-pity. Woe is me. Why is it like this? You have a Bible and you're somewhat familiar with the Old Testament. You can flip over to King's first Kings. We're going to look at chapter 19 and I just want to read to you a large large portion of scripture, but we come across a man who is a prophet of God Elijah. And if you know much about Elijah God work through this guy, I mean, he's one of those guys that I would love to highlight reel of his life and he just got done with this epic battle in the story of him spending time with the prophets of Baal bail. Was this God that the enemies of Israel were serving and giving their allegiance to and he says, Why don't we get on the Mountaintop together you sacrifice to your God and I'll cry out to my. And let's see what happens and it's stories. Absolutely incredible. How God shows up when you've even got Elijah mocking the gods of these people are serving and then this is what happens in chapter 19 tab Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the profits with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying so may the god do to me and more. Also if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow that he was afraid and heroes and ran for his life and can't you bear Shiba which belongs to Judah and left his servants there earlier. He's with these prophets of Baal and he's on this amount. Top and he's crying out to God to intervene to work to move and God is mighty and powerful and acts on the behalf of Elijah. He comes off of that place and this queen now I'm going to kill you and the man is now in fear and trembling fear and trembling is going to lead him to a place where he put them self in isolation because of exterior fear exterior problems. He's just simply going to try to remove himself from everything that is going on. It says he himself when a Day's Journey Into the Wilderness came and sat down under a broom tree and he asked that he might die. Oh my goodness. This friends is self pity life is not going how I want. What was me Lord kill me now because I'm done with this situation. I'm done with life as it is and so in self-pity and self wallowing and he's looking in in a place of complete isolation. He has a horrible terrible thoughts. No, God is very faithful to meet this man. He says it is enough now a Lord take away my life. I'm no better than my father's he lay down and slept under a broom Tree in an angel touched him and said to him a rise and eat you see the mercy of God in this and behold there is a head of cake baked on hot stones in a jar of water. He ate and drank and lay down again and the angel of the Lord came again. The second time I eat for the journey is too great for you Heroes ate and drank and went in the strength of that food 40 days and night tour on the Mount of God and the story and shoes you read that he's crying out to God and God has the earthquakes and in this world and sent and then there's a still Small Voice that begins to speak to Elijah in his heart changes. isolation let you self pity that you accusations that God. You're not good his story. Really? He's in a similar boat as a Jonah are not a boat because Jonah had a whale of a Time rights. Thanks for the thyme last. Jonah had the same Prime. God said no. No. No. I was just a radical nationalist for the people of Israel is very proud of Israel. Very proud of his God, but just as much as you is proud of his God just proud of his people and of his upbringing and so when he was told to go to Nineveh, what did he say to God surely you are gracious surely you are kind surely you are merciful if these people repent, you know, what's going to happen. You're going to forgive them God. I knew you were good. I knew you would do this to Jonah doesn't want to go. Gets brought there. Anyways walks through the city has the miserable now 40 days 40 nights. You don't repent you're all going to die. That's his message. That's the gospel that he brought to them the city repents. He's part of this massive Revival. And what did he do? He goes to the desert side and he says in a conversation with god kill me now. Lord you didn't do what I wanted you to do. A pity you didn't act how I wanted you to act and then God grew up this tree to get him shade and then he was still complaining and then a worm ate the tree and God uses that as a spray tan allergy and talking to the man the prophet Jonah Jonah just like Elijah isolated themselves because they did not like what was going on. And then they went to self pity they wallowed they complained and it led them to this Lord kill me now. Friend isolation is a terrible place to live in in America. We have an epidemic around this idea of loneliness. I read several surveys and polls and you know, there's good as a person pulling them apparently, but they say upwards of thirty 35% of even if the Millennials already is social beings and hang out with everybody declare that they are incredibly lonely and isolated. We have more parents of friendship more parents of connection and we have platforms. We've never said more than any other generation. We've never written more than any other generation in any history of the world and we never said so little of importance and we're so incredibly lonely. Solitude stretchies me isolation will wreck your soul. Solitude is a gift from God. How do we know the difference between Solitude and isolation isolation is something we're driven to more than likely because of outside circumstances or inside turmoil whereas this idea of solitude is a choice to actively pursue God. That is vastly vastly difference. We say I know in my heart I need to get away and spend time with you Lord in his intention was not because there's chaos other that can lead to some great time with Jesus. I promise you that I'm going to rhythmically set aside time in order to pursue your face to rejoice in you I'm going to come before you we can understand the difference of why am I actually coming and sitting before you God? Cheap one is going to lead you to self pity and the others going to lead you to worship. Would you are alone with God do not raise your hand this morning. What are the cries of your heart? Is it self-pity? Is it my life stinks? My relationships are horrible. Everything around me is going wrong and it's chaotic and falling apart or is it I'm going to rejoice in the lifter of my head. I'm going to praise you. I'm not saying you can't cry out to God and explain what's going on to God and have those conversations with the end of are you driven deeper into your own self wallowing in self-pity. Are you growing in your pride and your accusations against God. Are you able to say I am going to trust love and worship you what does that quiet time actually lead you to How does it leave you when you're done with it?

Self-pity is a refusal to be grateful a refusal to take a look at all that God has done and all that God has given and it's precisely and places of isolation. The enemy is going to attack such as the spiritual battle. We talked about you are a physical being you are a spiritual being you are an emotional being you know, what that means. You are a bean that has conflicts problems. There is no simplistic answer to anything going on if a purely a physical being and all we have to do is fix our physical problems and life would be better. If only an emotional being in this is work on the emotional side and life would be better for only a spiritual being an all we need to do is just sit before God and worship and praise God and Hallelujah everything just vanishes and gets better. But we are all smarter than that. We we realize that we're not just atoms combined together at some point combusted and how are we here? We have Humanity. God made us emotional physical Spiritual Beings. That means our problems have to be looked at in the more complex land because we are a complex B what happens then and isolation creates the space and lens towards very epidemic that I was previously talking about depression and loneliness

Isolation feels like the safest place to be doesn't it? It's a way to lock up our hearts. It's a way to lock up our feelings. It's a way to make sure you will never ever hurt me again nor will anybody else and in that maybe we can find some relief? I've been ultimately what have we done as CS Lewis's we locked it into the same hellish prison as it was hurt and broken in the first place, but in the end we never really had the opportunity to feel the joy of Love of caring of one another this idea of isolation is that you're better off alone. So why don't you just get away from it all but it's no way to live. It's in enslaving place to live The Huffington Post rope. One of the authors on their said when we perceive ourselves as lonely it can actually impair our health research has shown that both proceed an actual social isolation were associated with increased risk of early mortality Studies have found links between loneliness and heart disease or other research suggests that loneliness and social isolation may be a greater threat to Public Health in United States and obesity on the contrary. We feel socially included with our physical and mental health improve

redeemers if it's you that feels isolated today. We want to welcome you into the community of God. We want to be inviting and we want to have friendship and we want to provide opportunity to engage and enjoy one another you're struggling with loneliness and isolation. Please do not live in that place. It's no place to live. It's no Community has called you into Solitude of the sea is very different gospel Community the imperfect and a Beautiful Mess. Kind of family that family always looks like it wants to deal with her isolation and invites us into something far greater. What do we do this morning? If isolation is bad, but this idea of solitude is good. They seem like similar word. How can we differentiate and how can we walk in solitude? And what does that actually look like in our lives and Luke 19 verses 18 through 28. Jesus talks about the state of being alone and Solitude in pursuing God CS Lewis wrote this about Solitude. He said we live in fact in a world starved for Solitude silence and privacy there for starved for meditation and true friendship. He talks about true friendship actually stemming from the innermost need to wear if you don't have a long time with God if you don't have X of solitude, you really truly can't be who God has made you to be in him. We can't go live in community. If we don't break apart in an attention away to spend time before God to examine our own heart and examine. Our own lives God's voice is most clearly heard in silence Solitude and privacy and so for many of us here this morning, we actually need to learn how to do that. Don't we? I know I need to continue to work on this idea as setting a part-time to hear and receive from God because my guess is is y'all live in a very busy world. We just talked about working rest with a lot of feedback on work and rest. It doesn't matter if you're an eight-year-old aspiring to go to Harbor to be the next NBA player your parents have got the track for you, right? That's culturally if you are retired, you are busy with all kinds of activities and events and things going on and so much of it is good stuff. It becomes demanding stuff that then ruled Our Lives. All of a sudden we are just as crazy chaotic and busy as we were 30 years ago and you know something funny I was reading Spurgeon on busyness and he talked about the same thing in his day and age how busyness is a problem of every single Society if he comes this item that if I'm busy and you're going to perceive me as a hard-working good person before you can trust me and rely on me busyness in one sense is healthy cuz we need to be productive. But in another sense can be what actually Define and Jesus is teaching us to be countercultural to the ways of the world. Are you saying we don't need to have busy Souls, we need a breakaway for privacy with the god of the universe Solitude is going to drive you deeper into worship of God. We all want to be transformed into the image of Christ. Reading bridges on this Jerry Bridges and he talks about this and 2nd Corinthians 3:18. We are being transformed into Christ likeness and Romans 8:29 Godfrey Destin all believers to be conformed to the likeness of his son there for Christ likeness is God goal for all who trust in Christ. That should be our goal also both words transform and confirm and a common root form, meaning of pattern or a mold being transformed before to the process conformed refers to the finished product. Jesus is our pattern or mold. We are being transformed So eventually become formed in the likeness of Jesus sanctification Holiness, then is Conformity to the likeness of Jesus. What was he talking about? He's talking to this idea that as you've received Christ Jesus walking him do all things unto the glory of God that you have been transformed that you've been changed and they were being conformed to the image of the Sun. But how does that actually happen we talked about. How work is worship unto God Rest is worship unto God today Solitude spending time with God is worshipped under the God As We Gather of the Saints. Would Gather in small group to read scripture. This is worship unto God if you want to get to know somebody on a human level four sisters with me. If you want to know who Brett Anderson is the first thing you're going to do is probably go to Facebook or Instagram and you're going to Snoop on me spy on me and you're going to see that guy doesn't post too much. You're also going to see that for kids. Is a wife he works at a church and you're going to get some factual information. You can know some things about me. If you just simply Snoop on social media. You can also go online. You can listen to me. You can listen as I preach and teach and what I'm passionate about what I desire and the stories that you

but neither of these two places will actually let you get to know me you can actually set up times for us to get together hang out in just any person and you can have one on one conversation. Now, we think we would achieve knowing somebody we spend one-on-one time with them don't we only got five years of them 10 years with them, but you see that there's more to it because to truly get to know someone that's not just one on one time. But if you hang out with them in a group of their friends, you're going to see a different side of him that you never seen before. She's the only way to really get to know somebody it's no them in multiple different ways. You can hang out with groups of friends, and there's definitely a different side of me sometimes. You let the cops out with who I'm hanging out with and what makes me laugh. And what makes me choke. You have to spend all of these ways if you want to get to know me, this is how God Created us to get to know him. Do you want to know God? You read about God. His character has nature. Do you want to know God you spend time around his Saints and you hear the story that talk about about this God as a gather on Sundays and build that into our room if you want to know God you have to spend some time alone with God. Drawing Near to him spending that time with him. This is why the psalmist writes be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am God. This morning. I'm going to cut this in half cuz I have too much. It's getting hot and there's Pizza over there at 11. And I'm excited to worship and spend time with our body sitting before God being still next week. What I want to do is I want to talk about reasons of solitude. We're going to talk about Solitude for soul formation Solitude for reflection and meditation, which is someone I will meditate on the word of God then like a tree firmly planted. I will be routed and him and talk about Solitude as self-examination. But here's what I want to challenge you that this week. Do you have a rhythm a spending time with God alone? Do you have a daily Rhythm not because he says you better not because he says if you don't then I'm going to be angry and upset with you because you truly want to know this God. Do you have that time daily? There's not a holy our let me just tell you that early on and youth group I learned if you don't get up early you don't do devotional time, right? All right. I'm not an early at morning kind of guy. Now the song that says early in the morning. I'll see to your face but Jesus stays up all night praying sometimes. Okay. There's not a holy hour.

Do you have a time? I mean is it 5 a.m. Or p.m. Maybe it is at 10 at night. I want to challenge you to do three tens what I mean by that is 10 minutes of reading 10 minutes of reflection of what you just read we skip that one a lot where to buy next week 10 minutes of prey start small. Start small. I'm going to read a passage. I'm going to actually reflect on what I just read. And then I'm going to pray I'm going to just slowly start slowing down every day at some point if your married encourage your spouse and Grant your spouse that time if you have children that are young be the one who says, let me take them outside for the half an hour and share that responsibility encourage each other. This is for school formation. And then if you're taking notes and writing things down once a month just easy go one hour one hour and one of your days off we just do this in an extended period and watch how God will work in you and move and you and I was going to draw you close to bring to talk about the reasons for this next week. I don't want to leave you with that to reflect on it this morning. Let's pray Lord. You are so good to us. So kind of us and you're Find near to us and you called us and made us your own. Today I pray that you would stir up a desire and every follower of Jesus. Spend time with you. To draw close to you. To cry out to you to worship you two still are busy hearts. Set reflect and be thankful. What working redeemers Church working us through this? In Jesus name amen.

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