May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 NIV)
When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick….
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. (Matthew 14:13-14, 22-23 NIV)
For Reflection:
On this cold and snowy day, the thought of being rejuvenated—revitalized, given new energy—sounds beyond amazing! What gives me energy? Options flood my mind: A brisk morning walk through snowy wooded trails along the shore? A rigorous workout? A good, slow stretch to awaken my muscles and lungs after a generously full, restful night of sleep? The morning sunrise with its fresh air and songs and sounds of nature waking up always invigorates my body, heart, mind, spirit, and soul, in the promise of a new day ahead.
Where do I look for energy? What depletes my energy? Do my patterns of re-energizing look like Jesus’s? As I reflect, I am aware that this season of winter on my calendar mirrors a season in my life. I try to remember the last time I walked to the water’s edge and quietly watched the sun rise, savoring the peaceful stillness before light awakens the gentle movements and songs of the new day. It has been too long. I long to be re-energized and look to Jesus—whose invitation to come in our burdened weariness to Him—comes with His promise of compassion, gently teaching us His unforced rhythms of life.
In our passage, Jesus has just received the news that his cousin, John the Baptist, the one who prepared the way, who baptized Him, has been brutally executed. Jesus is grieving and processing. What does He do? He takes action to create space for connection with God the Father. While the time in the boat would have provided some space, He was immediately greeted on the other side by crowds again. Weary, I might desire to turn the other way; yet Jesus leaned in. Even as grief and weariness weighed, Jesus had compassion on the people. He moved toward them and healed them. How is this possible? What does He want us to see and know (and do)?
After healing the sick (and performing another miracle), Jesus then sends His disciples ahead to the other side, and Jesus went up to the mountain to pray. Alone. Jesus instructs and models that time alone, in solitude, resting in connection with God is needed to restore, rejuvenate, fill and guide. He lived it.
While it might seem that Jesus kept going from place to place, from need to more needs, there is more to His pattern. Although Jesus’s movement was forward, it wasn’t nonstop. He met many needs, yet not all. He paced and prioritized, sought and found those in-between moments for connection, abiding, with God. To be still in His presence.
What does His pattern teach me? Time being still, in prayer and solitude with God the Father provides strength, wisdom, and cultivates resilience. Even short moments of connection and rest in God, little Sabbaths–are restorative. They enabled Jesus to continue. While Sabbath has roots in the Old Testament, the concept of sabbath is important and relevant in our lives and world even today. If we’ll look beyond the barriers to the invitation to come to Him, to be still and know and listen. From a few minutes to a full day a week or more, these opportunities to reconnect with God fill us, restore our peace, our hope and faith, provide strength and endurance for all we do.
I linger in our Romans verse, in the idea of being filled with all joy and peace, overflowing with hope. I notice how this is connected with trusting God. Am I trusting Him? Am I creating space to be alone with Him? Jesus shows us how.
Let us pray:
Precious Jesus, you show us how to live, to lean in, to create space for connection with You. Thank you! Would you show me how to be still, to integrate patterns of connecting and resting in You; teach me to work from that place of rest and strength. Lord, help grow in me a desire for your presence and guidance, your grace and power to strengthen, rejuvenate, re-energize, and restore me.
Lord, we walk through seasons of life that are hard and draining. Amid our very full days, we are faced with many needs and expectations. Thank you that you see us and you understand. Would you cultivate resilience in us, so that we may be more present, compassionate, and loving with the people around us--in our families, neighborhoods, schools, and churches, no matter what comes our way.
Would you grow a desire in our hearts to create space for solitude and prayer, for mini-Sabbaths and extended opportunities to connect with and in you. Help me to abide in you, open myself to be seen, known, loved, and filled by you. Thank you for loving me, for making your home with and in me. Help me to follow your example, to live out your rhythms of grace and life, that I might learn to live and love fully, as you teach us. Oh how I love you. In your holy and precious name, Jesus, I pray. Amen.
I wonder why I keep trying to power through in my own strength?
Am I willing to be still?
I wonder what it would look like in my life to intentionally integrate patterns
of connecting with God,
then operating from that place of strength and rest in Him the way Jesus lived?