Your Deserted Place

Mark 6:30-34:

The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught.  He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

Blog:

How many of us can honestly say that we have a “deserted place” that we go to alone with God to rest in Him?  And, for those of us who can say that we do have such a place go to it each and every day?  Just like asking God for help for ourselves through Prayer, having a “deserted place” is one of the most epic struggles for Believers.  While Jesus modeled this for us (often going off alone to Pray to and Rest in God), many of us find that we fall way short of His Example.  With the worries of this world nagging at us constantly, far too many of us get caught up in the stormy waves of this life.  And, just like a sailor fallen overboard in a rough sea, the longer we spend in the water, the further we drift away from God – sometimes, unfortunately, to where we can’t even see Him over the waves or due to the fog of life.  But Jesus comforts us in John 16:33, “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”  So, rather than focusing on the worries (e.g. waves, fog, etc.) of this world, let’s all try to find more quiet time each and every day with Jesus – in His Word, in Prayer, in just sitting and listening to what He has to say.  God commands us to “be still”, so that we can know that He is God (Psalm 46:10).