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<\/a><\/p>\nYet the news about him spread all the more,\u00a0so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Lk. 5:15,16<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I remember reading these verses at a time when I needed them most. \u00a0It has been long enough now that I can’t describe the circumstances other than the fact that they were pastoral.<\/p>\n
I’ll see if I can communicate some of the personal significance that these verses carry …<\/p>\n
Picture people in great need. \u00a0In the biblical context, I see the friends of a paralyzed man, carrying him on a stretcher for who knows what kind of distance, determined to get him\u00a0to Jesus. \u00a0You remember the story. \u00a0They were so resolute about their mission that they cut a hole in someone’s roof and lowered him on ropes, dangling him in front of Jesus. \u00a0He was healed. How could Jesus do anything else. \u00a0I am glad that it wasn’t my roof. \u00a0This was one of the memorable success stories in the gospels when it came to determination, the power of faith and friendship.<\/p>\n
As I read these verses however, I am reminded that there were people who came looking for Jesus and he was nowhere to be found. \u00a0It wouldn’t have mattered how many friends they had or how dire the situation was. \u00a0There were times when Jesus was unavailable. We don’t read the stories of those who missed Jesus, those who continued to flounder in their misfortune and hardship. \u00a0But be assured, they were there and Jesus wasn’t.<\/p>\n
You see, Jesus\u00a0often<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0withdrew … not occasionally …\u00a0often<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
Others came to hear\u00a0him and the service was cancelled. \u00a0I try to imagine the typical North American preacher tearing her\/himself from an opportunity to preach the gospel to multitudes. \u00a0Ego cannot possible turn away from these kinds of things. \u00a0People who are mission driven cannot possibly say “no” to invitations to do their thing.<\/p>\n
But Jesus did. \u00a0Often<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n
Jesus often withdrew … not occasionally …\u00a0often.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
How could he do it …. or not do it?<\/p>\n
He said, “I have come to seek and save those who are lost.” \u00a0So when the lost were seeking Him, it would only stand to reason that He ought to be in the neighbourhood. \u00a0And if “seeking and saving<\/strong><\/em>” was about public gatherings, sermons or a healing ministry, then Jesus missed the boat or so it would seem. But maybe Jesus didn’t see those things to be as critical or important as we do.<\/p>\n
What I do get is that Jesus understood His mission. \u00a0I am certain that he accomplished it. \u00a0And no matter how demanding it became, Jesus often withdrew … in order to fulfill his mission there were times when he could not “be there” for people.<\/p>\n
Have you learned that simple precept as well? \u00a0As good as your intentions may be, you cannot always “be there” for all your family, friends or the crowd in general. \u00a0They need to learn that you cannot be omnipresent. \u00a0You need to learn that as well.<\/p>\n
I woke up at about 4:30am the other day. \u00a0Before I could turn my mind off, I began to fret over my kids, my Mom, Elaine’s parents. \u00a0I got up and headed for the beach. \u00a0The fog was heavy and wet. \u00a0In the thick darkness, I walked next to the ocean, listening to the surf and feeling the slight wind. I watched a boat or two as best I could as it left harbor to do what the fishermen aboard are meant to do.<\/p>\n
It was a beautifully lonely place, a beautifully lonely experience. \u00a0That’s where I go to find him … lonely places. \u00a0That’s where He went when He needed to get away from His mission and the needs of people. \u00a0When I look for him and cannot find Him in the busyness of life, I find Him where He often went … lonely places.<\/p>\n
There … He prayed.<\/p>\n
And like Jesus, there are times when we need to be unavailable as well. \u00a0For the good of your soul, you need to realize that you can’t always be there.<\/p>\n
Often you need to be in the lonely places, with Jesus, … praying.<\/p>\n
Someone said, “You can do more than pray, after you have prayed but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.”<\/p>\n
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Yet the news about him spread all the more,\u00a0so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.\u00a0But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Lk. 5:15,16 I remember reading these verses at a time when I needed them most. \u00a0It has been long enough now that I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-between-sundays"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6IX45-fw","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=962"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":964,"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962\/revisions\/964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ikemediology.com\/clc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}