Recently everything as we knew it changed. We were told to distance ourselves from each other at least 6 feet. We were told to wash our hands while singing a song. We were told to try to stay at home unless we needed supplies. When people did not listen to the suggestion to stay home, we eventually were ordered to stay at home.
I’m an introvert. Though I am rather talkative, I prefer to be alone. I love being at home. As I looked around, I couldn’t understand why so many people had issues with listening to the government recommendations to simply stay home for a few weeks. I started to ask the question – what is wrong with staying home? I took the question a step further – what is wrong with being alone?
Now yes, we are created for community. From the very beginning, God made us to be interwoven and in need of each other for relationship. Yet the desire to always be with someone or even to always be busy is a problem. Is it that you cannot stand to be alone with yourself? Or maybe the real issue is being alone with God?
The Bible speaks often about the need to rest. Our bodies were designed to need rest—it’s a very important part of our quality of life. As well, we were also designed to be in communion with God. Jesus often went alone to pray to the Father. We also read about our need to be connected to the vine. Imagine how often we can pray when we are inside away from the hustle and bustle of the world. Imagine the time we could have to connect with God’s Word too!
For many people, being at home means more time with loved ones, more time with pets, more time to learn new things, more time to read a good book, more time to finish an item off the good old to-do list, etc. Why do we look at the awesome blessing we have before us, to slow down, to reconnect, to accomplish, to laugh, to rest—why do we look at this and still find the need to escape from the walls of our homes? How can we always say we wish we had more time, and when we receive this gift of time, we start climbing the walls like it’s a punishment?
When this virus first made its way to America, I declared it would be tragic in numbers. I foresaw that we would be at the top of the list of infected people. We are taught that we can do anything, achieve anything, be anything; individualism is spoken to us from birth. We spend so much time trying to be the best me, myself, and I, trying to fill our lives with things, trying to make a name for ourselves, and we miss the plot. We make life all about ourselves.
I have been amused at many memes in the past few weeks that joke about our current life situation. It’s good to laugh and we all certainly need a good laugh right about now. Yet as I sit here alone in my house that I so love to stay inside without an order from the government, and I hear my dog snoring and the faint sound of laughter coming from my daughter’s room upstairs, I cannot help but ask the questions again – what is wrong with staying home? What is wrong with being alone? What is wrong with resting, connecting with God, and connecting with family? Why do we struggle to enjoy the simplest and most precious of gifts in life?
“Let this hope burst forth within you, releasing a continual joy. Don’t give up in a time of trouble, but commune with God at all times” – Romans 12:12 [TPT]
Tania Gutekunst 