looking back from where we came......
SOLITUDE
Dr. John Oswalt, Professor Emeritus - Wesley Biblical Seminary
"And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.," Matt. 14:23, NIV
One of our enemy’s great strategies is to keep us running. Someone has spoken of “the tyranny of the urgent.” So we rush from this thing that has to be done to that thing that has to be done to the next thing that has to be done. And all too often, the really important things that ought to be done, although not right at this moment, never get done at all. But if we STOP, walk away from all that stuff, and go off alone with God, it is incredible how he can reorder our priorities.
I believe that is what Jesus was doing during that forty days in the Judean wastelands. He was letting God show him what he needed to do and did not need to do in his ministry. His Father was showing him what mattered and what didn’t matter. Jesus was taking a deep breath and a long view.
Is that something you need to do during this Lenten season? Perhaps you are sacrificing your children or spouse on the altar of your busyness, and God wants to point that out to you. Maybe you are overlooking a great opportunity that's right in front of your face but is obscured by all those little things clamoring to be done. Solitude with God is the place to have your eyes opened.
WALK THE PATH:
While getting alone today, write down all the things keeping you 'busy'. Pray and ask the Lord about that list - then wait and listen to see how He reorders it for you!
looking back from where we came......
SOLITUDE
Dr. John Oswalt, Professor Emeritus - Wesley Biblical Seminary
"And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.," Matt. 14:23, NIV
One of our enemy’s great strategies is to keep us running. Someone has spoken of “the tyranny of the urgent.” So we rush from this thing that has to be done to that thing that has to be done to the next thing that has to be done. And all too often, the really important things that ought to be done, although not right at this moment, never get done at all. But if we STOP, walk away from all that stuff, and go off alone with God, it is incredible how he can reorder our priorities.
I believe that is what Jesus was doing during that forty days in the Judean wastelands. He was letting God show him what he needed to do and did not need to do in his ministry. His Father was showing him what mattered and what didn’t matter. Jesus was taking a deep breath and a long view.
Is that something you need to do during this Lenten season? Perhaps you are sacrificing your children or spouse on the altar of your busyness, and God wants to point that out to you. Maybe you are overlooking a great opportunity that's right in front of your face but is obscured by all those little things clamoring to be done. Solitude with God is the place to have your eyes opened.
WALK THE PATH:
While getting alone today, write down all the things keeping you 'busy'. Pray and ask the Lord about that list - then wait and listen to see how He reorders it for you!