Boundary 5: Privacy Is Powerful

Knowing every layer of you is a privledge not a right.

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Matthew 17:1-3

Jesus took his three most trusted disciples. These were the disciples whom he reveled his godly side to and they could be trusted to keep his secret until after he rose from the grave. He loved all people, but out of the 12 disciples, he had special relationships with Peter, James, and John. Jesus revealing his Godly identity to them proved his trust in them and their character.

All of you is not meant for everyone.

God speaks in whispers, if you’re constantly surrounded by noise, you’ll end up distracted and unable to hear him. All of the disciples didn’t know everything about Jesus, there were levels to his relationships and how much of himself and his mission he exposed to different disciples.

Alone time with God is self care

John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. Matthew 14: 12-13

King Herod beheaded Jesus’s cousin, John the Baptist. When word was brought back to Jesus, he secluded himself on a boat. Based on the previous habits of Jesus, he most likely spent that time bringing his grief to God in prayer. Jesus loved his cousin John, and he had human emotions, so we can assume Jesus dealt with a great deal of grief over the loss of his cousin.

Alone time with God was a habit and Jesus’ whereabouts did not need to be explained to everyone around him. Remember, not everything that we do needs to be publicized. Sometimes “I need to be alone” is all we need to say, everyone does not need to know everything about us!

It’s not out of pride that we keep a private life. Pride says “what I have is better than yours and I’m not sharing!” it reminds me of hoarding resources from others because you see them as competition.

The revelation of privacy is “we are equal, but you may not understand the vision that God gave me, so I need to keep it private to protect it.” Alone time with God helps us understand that we need to allow him to work in us before he can work through us!

Alone time with God is relationship building

My life, relationships and resources are not more important than yours, therefore, we should not be private out of pride or ego but out of an attempt to build our relationship with God and preserve our revelation. Spending time with God allows for correcting, healing, finding peace, and guidance. If you can name a need, you can find it in God’s presence!

When we can’t be alone, we end up turning our relationships into idols, believing that the presence of people can substitute the presence of God. Nothing in our lives can take the place of time spent building our relationship with God, there is no suitable replacement, your soul will never be satisfied!

“When you have a God-sized hole in your soul, anything else you try to fill it with will be too small. Nothing earthly can replace a spiritual bond with God.” – Timothy Keller

What steps can you take to have more privacy? What can you do to spend more alone time with God?