TODAY’S READINGS
Psalm 119:113-128 | 1 Samuel 19:1-7 | Acts 27:39-44
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Wednesday June 23
Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. | V Mark 6:47
Solitude and Service
I was thinking about my personal pursuit of balancing my time between being immersed in the lives of the community and spending quality, uninterrupted time alone with the Lord. I believe if we have “eyes to see,” Jesus is always working through his own discipline in these two competing areas. He is absolutely absorbed in the lives of his disciples as they spend their time immersed together in the daily process of finding hurting people and helping them take their next step with God. However, we also see a consistent pulling away from that which is good for the Kingdom, in order to spend time alone with his heavenly Father. I am convinced that without this time in solitude, Jesus could never have maintained his hectic schedule, much less gone on to fulfill the Father’s mission for his life. I notice a couple of interesting takeaways for us here. Jesus was disciplined to hurry to his time of solitude when he felt God’s calling. As he responded in obedience to that calling, his closest followers were both confused and frightened by his absence. He spent time alone with God anyway. Finally, just as he hurried off to seek solitude with the Lord, he also hurried back to be with those the Father had entrusted to his care. Perhaps he would have preferred to remain in solitude and avoid all the frustration of ministry. He resisted that temptation and instead continued to work out a balance between solitude and service. There is something here for us if we will take the time to listen. Shalom!