My daughter, Isabell, and I did a fair amount of travel last month to promote our new book, Road to Wholeness. It was totally fantastic to get to travel with her, minister together, do interviews, navigate canceled flights, enjoy fun meals and meet amazing people! We also both came to appreciate our NPT, which stands for no people time. In full disclosure, Isabell is an extrovert, and I’m an introvert. As such, it’s no surprise when I need some NPT, and we are both clear that even extroverts need some NPT from time to time.
In thinking about this, I’ve been reading about Jesus in the Gospels, and I’m seeing that even Jesus needed some NPT. For example, after Jesus heard about John the Baptist getting beheaded in Matthew 14, He withdrew to a secluded place for some solitude. In the same chapter, after He had fed more than 5,000 people, He again sought out some NPT, sending his disciples across the sea of Galilee in a boat and dismissing the crowd. In Luke 6, we read that Jesus withdrew to a mountain to pray by Himself before He selected His twelve apostles. And in Luke 5:16, we read, “But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.”
When I think about these instances when Jesus would do NPT, I find it interesting to consider that maybe He needed solitude to process the news of His cousin’s gory death–John the Baptist was Jesus’s cousin. No doubt it was difficult for Jesus to hear the news of John’s death, not only in a family context, but also maybe because John was the forerunner who announced Jesus’s arrival—a voice in the wilderness saying, “Prepare the way of the Lord!” Solitude can be a resource to help us process grief and death. Of course, solitude needs to be balanced with some helpful people engagement in the grief and death process.
Additionally, when Jesus dismissed the massive crowd after He had miraculously fed everyone, as well as sending His disciples across the sea, it seems very expected and customary that He would need some breathing room and time to Himself. Consider that Jesus had taught, healed and interacted with thousands of people for the whole day. At some point, maybe even Jesus was depleted by people and needed some solitude for recovery.
Finally, it’s powerful to consider that Jesus made some high-quality solitude and prayer time before He selected His twelve apostles. His selections weren’t whimsical nor impetuous. Rather, Jesus made time to pray and process who He would select to be His most consistent followers and who would be tasked to carry on the gospel news after He ascended to heaven. Maybe we would be wise to set aside some time for prayer and solitude to give God space to help us with our selection of friendships.
For me, I find that lots of my NPT is where God talks with me, and we have some very deep fellowship. No doubt that I’ve had many experiences where God spoke through people to me about various things, and no doubt that God can give us friendships to reflect His love and care in our lives. But whether you’re an introvert, ambivert or extrovert, let’s be mindful of some NPT, remembering Jesus as a great example!
