Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self… Solitude is the place of the great struggle and the great encounter - the struggle against the compulsions of the false self, and the encounter with the loving God who offers himself as the substance of the new self.
Update
A quick update before we finish out our growth series.
I recently created a new page/channel where all of the podcast video episodes now live in one place. My goal is to create a space where everything stays with The Prodigal Journey website and creates a community. If you don’t want to scroll back through the website looking for a specific episode you can easily find it on the video part of the site and each video now has a category playlist.
One of my hopes for all of this- whether through the podcast or Oasis, is to create a space where people can process honestly, slow down, and remember they’re not the only ones wrestling with these things.
You can now find the podcast videos at theprodigaljourney.com/videos.
New podcast episode coming soon! “Eroding or Refining? Navigating Toxic Environments.” We will let you know when it’s released.
Arrive
I grew up in a time where men didn’t really talk about what they were feeling. You didn’t sit with it. You didn’t process it. You just pushed through.
And if something felt off, you found a way to deal with it - usually by distracting yourself.
For me, that became a pattern. If I felt something I didn’t like, I tried to fix it. Or avoid it. Or replace it with something else.
Sometimes it was something “harmless.” Sometimes it wasn’t. But either way, I wasn’t actually dealing with what was going on underneath.
Receive
I didn’t realize how much of my life was built around avoiding what I felt. Not always in obvious ways. Sometimes it looks like staying busy, or reaching for something to “take the edge off,” or just flat out sin. Sometimes it’s just not slowing down long enough to notice what is really going on.
Because sitting with it feels uncomfortable. And I don’t always know what to do with that. But what I’m learning is this:
Not everything you feel needs to be fixed immediately.
Some things need to be felt. Acknowledged. Sat with.
Because when you constantly escape what you feel, you never actually understand what’s driving it. And the same patterns just keep repeating.
Learning to sit with it doesn’t mean you enjoy it. It just means you stop running long enough to let something real happen underneath the surface.
Respond
What do you tend to reach for when something feels off?
Not just the obvious things - even the small distractions.
What would it look like to pause for a moment instead of immediately trying to fix or avoid it?
This next week, start paying attention to the exact moment you “reach” for something to escape.
What is underneath the surface fueling your urge to escape?
You don’t have to figure everything out. Just start by staying!
Final Reflection
Sometimes growth looks like staying when you’d rather escape. Not everything uncomfortable needs to be escaped.
Choosing to stay in the moment isn’t easy. When the room goes quiet, loneliness often knocks first, tempting us to “reach” or drown out our thoughts with busyness. But remember:
Lonliness is reaching outward to desperately fill an inner void and it leaves us feeling empty.
Solitude is choosing to stay present with the void, making it a fertile ground for growth.
The next time you feel the urge to escape, try to stay! Breathe through the discomfort. You aren’t being left behind; you are stepping into the furnace of your own transformation.
Trust that on the other side of that struggle is a deeper, more grounded version of you waiting to be met. You’ve got this!
On Repeat
Because this topic has had such an impact on me the last few weeks, I want to also recommend a sermon that has been encouraging to me and hits anther aspect of the idea of staying and being with Jesus instead of doing. It was preached at our church in July 2025.
”Keep Me in the Moment” - Jeremy Camp
There’s something about the phrase “keep me in the moment” that’s been sitting with me this week. Because I’m realizing how often I try to leave the moment I’m actually in.
Not physically, but mentally and emotionally. Through distraction, noise, and scrolling. Avoiding the conversations or thoughts I don’t really want to sit with.
Part of growth is learning to stay present long enough to let something deeper take root there. Enjoy this week’s On Repeat!
In Christ,
Ben
