Daily Reflections ...

My heart was stirred right from the first sentence today – Jesus ‘withdrew… to a deserted place by himself’. In the busyness of life, doesn’t that sound nice? Do you ever wish you could go away, be still, and just breathe?

I do – often. Now, granted, I am an introvert, so that factors in. But also, just like you, I have expectations coming at me every moment of the day from family, work and ministry, and I could easily fill every hour with busyness!

So, I love that Jesus escaped and took some time to be alone. I love that he left all the people who needed him and took a moment. Because when life is busy, and family, work, community and ministry all cry out for our attention, it can be hard to give ourselves permission to take some time. But if Jesus, creator of the universe, needed that, then it’s ok that we need it too.

And then, when Jesus returned, he performed one of his most famous miracles. I believe that taking time out to refill and be refreshed allowed him to give again of himself, allowed him to be present to those who needed him.

My prayer this week is that we can respond to the invitation of the Lord to withdraw when we need to, so that we too can be filled and refreshed and be able to continue to pour our lives out in the service of others.

by Rebecca Crouch