Are you ready for a great example of what this looks like?
I’m talking about a great example. Check out Matthew 14 and we are going to walk with Jesus Christ through an incredibly busy, busy day.
And let’s see, let us allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us individually….
"At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, 2 and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
Ok Herod is speaking about all the amazing things that Jesus Christ is doing and he says it’s John the Baptist working through Christ… Herod doesnt know Jesus the Messiah so he resorts to what he believes, he’s wrong, but he doesnt know. So Matthew now explains why Herod believes this.
Matthew walks us through what took place… he gives us the back story.
3 Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 4 for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.
6 On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much 7 that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” 9 The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted 10 and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. Ok so Matthew told us the story of the death of John the baptist to give us Herods reasoning of why he thought John was helping Jesus. OK? So now vs.12 takes us back to current time this was written. V.12 says, John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
So John the baptist was murdered and the next day some disciples go and tell Jesus what has happened.
Look at how Jesus responds to the death of His cousin, John the baptist.
13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.
What does He do? He breaks away, first thing in the morning to be alone with the Father in solitude.
What does that speak to you and me?
v. 13 continues… Hearing of this, the crowds followed him (Jesus) on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
At the end of His time away in solitude immediately His busy day begins. He spends hours, through the morning into the afternoon looking after the needs of the people.
That’s draining folks. Hours of ministry will wipe you out.
Hours of your work day will wipe you out.
15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
So wow! What just happened? After hours of tending to and miraculously healing the sick Jesus pulls off 1 of 2 amazing miracles of feeding thousands with just a tiny amount of food.
This is a very busy, very strenuous day right?
So what happens next?
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone,
It’s into the evening now and Jesus sends His buddies off, why? So He could be alone.
In rest, quietness and trust you will be liberated and strengthened. (ref. "Are You Living in the 'Storm of the Norm"?)
Let’s keep reading...
24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
OK that was a lot that just happened… Jesus walks on water, (another miracle) tells Peter to join Him, rescues Peter due to Peters lack of faith, gets into boat and calms the storm that its waves had been crashing against the boat terrifying the disciples. And they are standing there in awe and wonder.
Because it’s here with Jesus, alone with Jesus in rest, quietness and trust that the storm of the norm can be calmed…. And we are delivered, liberated.
Guess what? His day is not finished.
Let’s keep reading...
34 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him 36 and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.
They land on shore and again immediately people begin to bring their sick to Him…. Begging the scripture tells us to heal their sick.
How much longer into this already full day do you think Jesus ministered to those people?
Was He literally up, awake, working and ministering for 24hrs straight???
Hear me folks… please see the point… That was an incredibly busy busy day right?
Actually it makes our days seem not so bad… especially when this day began with the news of the murder of your cousin.
How productive are your days upon the news of someone close to you losing their lives?
We recoil don’t we? We don’t want to do anything. However that’s not the point.
What’s the point? Please allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you personally.
Our days are so busy, our schedules are over-run with activity. Sometimes we find time just to veg-out but they are still so busy.
And here is the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m talking about the Lord, the King of Kings, Creator of the universe walking in flesh, and in His flesh how many times did He break away to find solitude with Father God? How often did He (hear me) prioritize breaking away for a while to find rest, quietness and trust?
So what do we find here in scripture? The very busy lifestyle of Jesus Christ.
We see that, plain as day… what we don’t find anywhere recorded in scripture is Jesus talking about His busy schedule and being worn out from it… what we do see is HOW He managed to live, deal with that crazy, crazy lifestyle…. Prioritizing solitude. Finding, making time in rest, quietness, and trust to be liberated, to be strengthened to continue on….
What is God’s Word saying to you and your schedule?
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