“Come with me by yourselves
to a quiet place and get some rest.”
to a quiet place and get some rest.”
Mark 6:31
In the West, we equate business to success.
The more busy we are, the more productive we believe we are being. In fact, it becomes the standard greeting everywhere: “I am so busy.” Author Wayne Muller in his book Sabbath writes, “We say this to one another with no small degree of pride, as if our exhaustion were a trophy, our ability to withstand stress a mark of real character. The busier we are, the more important we seem to ourselves and, we imagine, to others. To be unavailable to our friends and family, to be unable to find time for the sunset (or even to know that the sun has set at all), to whiz through our obligations without time for a single, mindful breath, this has become the model of a successful life.”A causal reading of the Gospels clearly depicts how many people were constantly trying to get to Jesus. Several passages paint the picture of He and the disciples were so busy they didn’t even have time to eat (perhaps for days). Needless to say, Jesus was BUSY!
Reflection:
Think about how busy Jesus was, how many people were seeking an audience with Him, and yet the resilience He maintained to be alone with God.
If Jesus was the Son of God, why did He need time alone in solitude and prayer?
Further, if Jesus, as the Son of God needed such times, how much more do we?
“I’m too busy. I can’t afford to get alone.” This is what we often say. The Son of God was busier than we could imagine, with the greatest mission ever known to man, yet He seemed to say, “Because I’m so busy, I can’t afford NOT to get alone.” How much more us? What excuse will we now use?
2 comments:
P.Jerrell - I love to just take alone time and sit to my computer add read your messages. To me this is alone and quiet time? Right or wrong, this is what I love to do. I am not in a position of fasting but I can commit to spend time in the word and read your blog which is very enriching. I miss you and Charissa and the children so much.
Arlene
Arlene,
I agree taking time "alone" reading, etc is a great discipline, which doesn't come naturally. It must be intentional, yet there's a significant byproduct within us when we do...
...I wonder though, if even "good things" like reading the Bible, devotions, blogs, can at times still produce a noise... a sort of insulation (in a not so good sense)...
Each of those are essential to our growth and relationship with God. However, often we can busy ourselves in such a ways that we're we still never experience un-pre-fabricated time alone with God...
For many, to simply sit in silence, without feeling like we "have to say something" is a challenge... to simply sit and 'be' with God... and enjoy His Present-Nearness...
thoughts...?
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