Church buildings may be closed, but worship in not on lockdown. What if we turned this global fright into personal delight with Jesus?
Think of the disciples, global flu or not, they faced daily emotional-rollercoasters: freaked at the sight of demon-possessed shriek; ecstatic to see Jairus’ daughter come to life; outraged seeing Jesus rejected in his hometown; gut-wrenched at the news of Jesus’ cousin being killed, always judged by the teachers of the law …
How did Jesus protect the disciples from emotional and physical burnout?
“The apostles gathered around Jesus… because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ ” (Mark 6:31)
Come With Me.
Jesus not only recommended a break in Mark 6:31, He demanded it from the disciples.
In spite of the imperative, the disciples are not sent to time out, but they’re invited to do time in. He doesn’t tell them ‘go’, He says ‘come’. Jesus knows their limitations and beckons them to rest with Him.
Do you feel overwhelmed? Jesus is demanding you ‘to come’. Stop the competing ‘what-ifs’ in your head, pick up your Bible and join Jesus. Trust He will make it all work for our good and His glory.
By Yourself.
“So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.” (Mark 6:32)
Family devotionals, live-services, and online sermons are grace-filled moments.
But, do not neglect alone time with Jesus. He might want to whisper something just to you.
So, take the risk of being less on social media, news channels, and movie networks. All these time-wasters will still be there when you’re done.
To A Quiet Place.
Jesus and the disciples lingered on that quiet boat until they regained physical and spiritual strength.
How can we be sure of that? Although traveling by boat was faster than by foot, “…many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot … and got there ahead of them. ” (Mark 6:33)
Jesus saw value in that Quiet Place. Am I daily carving out a quiet-place for Jesus?
What steps can I take to switch from a tired-typical-and-flat devotional to a creative-refreshing adventure?
- Start Bible-Verses Journal
- Plan your prayer for the week: from personal to global
- Create a chart/ map/ list from the Bible
- Turn a verse into a song, and hum it through the day
- Create a list of ‘thieves’ that steal my Quiet Place. Take action steps to block them.
Get Some Rest.
Let’s disconnect completely, so we can later engage fully.
The church activities, the errands and the needs will wait for us on the other side of our Resting Pond.
Let’s take Jesus up on His invitation to leverage this forced global ‘time in’ due to the trendy virus. What things can you disconnect from to regain spiritual and physical stamina?
I’m not writing from a life not affected by these global issues…
For the last few days, my father’s been fighting spiking fever, convulsions, and severe coughing in a country where they can’t even test what flu he has. Him being a transplant patient, taking Tylenol is life-threatening, let alone the flu. – Please pray.
Concerning the adoption, we’ve waited for five years to be at this point in the process. But, here we are stalled by Romanian judges on strike, now ‘coronavirus panic’ closing the courthouse, and we got the slowest judge in the house. While our paperwork expires in June, and we might have to take half of the process from start. – Please pray.
Not to even mention, the postponed travels, events, holidays and church activities … just like everyone else.
It might seems impossible to switch from global fright to personal delight, but as Jesus told His disciples “…With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:27
May Psalm 59:16 be our anthem this week.
“But I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble.”