"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed" - Luke 5:16 (NIV).
Basketball has an interesting aspect called time out! If a coach notices that his team is losing then he can call for time out. This normally allows the team to regroup and get back to work more focused, past errors put aside. In soccer it comes as half time, a moment for the coach to size up the game and if he is loosing re strategize. Teams have been known to be loosing only to rediscover their mojo through half time, and turn the game around.
The idea of time out is actually not new and has been a long favoured practice of many productive people. If you look at the life of Jesus he led an intesily busy and packed life. He was always on the move and sarrounded by people eager to be fed. When he was told his friend Lazarus had died, he delayed hastening back as he was caught up with work (John 11:6).
When your life is about giving and doing you certainly need time out. This is important to allow your batteries to re charge. For Jesus the best time for this happened to be in the very early morning hours. "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed" (Mark 1:35). This is when he could find space.
But why was this necessary! Well, time out could help him process what had just happened. When he heard the prophet John had just been murdered by Herod, "he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place" (Mathew 14:13). This, allowed him to grieve!
Just like the great teams or better still, like Lord Jesus, you too need "time out"! This is a special moment when you could all be by yourself allowing you to recollect, process, reenergize, and forge ahead. It is not about being too busy; it is actually the very reason you need it. For Jesus it was a moment to talk and hear from God, spend time in prayer- as should be your case. You would profit immeasurably!
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I take time out to be with you alone, to hear from you and plan ahead how to serve and be pleasing to you, this I pray in Jesus's name.
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19/04/2024 - 20/04/2024 All day“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” ( Isaiah 43:19).
Just before fire was unleashed down on Sodom and Gommorah, Lot was told to pack up with his wife and two daughters and leave their homestead. Now, once out of danger, “But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” ( Gen 19:26). Perhaps here we might pause and ask why she was bothered to look back.
Of course it could have been that old “curiosity killed a cat” mistake! Yet, it could also have been Lot’s wife was not sure where she was going and longed for her old life back. This is a common error. There was nothing stirring to look back. Just before Lot’s neighbors had attacked his house eager to rape his visitors. “They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them” ( vv 5). Was there anything worth looking back to!
The case of Lot’s wife could be anyone else’s experience. The Lord has plucked you out of some mess. You have been delivered to a new life. Yet, somehow you decide to look back, as though there was anything good and worth longing for. Sometimes it is a bitter past you have been delivered from. Other than rejoice in your new blessings you keep being drawn back!
A wise caution goes, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly” ( Proverbs 26:11). If the Lord has just led you out of a certain mess why look back like it was much better! Instead look ahead, for “he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick: Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past” ( vv 17- 18).
Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, I thank you for delivering me from the darkness of the past and I look forward to a bright new future in you, this I pray in Jesus’ name!
