Prioritizing Time with Jesus - The Crosswalk Devotional - January 24
Prioritizing Time with Jesus
By Jennifer Slattery
Bible Reading:
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” Mark 1:35-38
Burnout is brutal, y’all, especially coming out of the crazy holiday season, where many of us found our already full schedules overloaded. We know we need a break but can’t figure out how to take one without causing our lives to implode. Maybe you’re a working parent tending to little ones, a ministry leader trying to meet significant needs in your congregation, or a manager attempting to coral challenging employees.
If that’s you, I wonder how today’s passage hits. Does it stir within you inspiration or frustration? When my daughter was young, my husband often worked over seventy hours each week and frequently traveled. Because we’d recently moved without family nearby, I hadn’t developed a support system to help alleviate my load.
I prayed for help in the form of an affordable babysitter. God provided by encouraging me to form reciprocal relationships with other parents. I also sensed Him telling me to slow down. Initially, that felt impossible. But as I continually brought my needs and concerns to Him, He helped me find ways to simplify some of my most time-consuming tasks, eliminate others, and prioritize the care of my soul.
He also helped me realize the message my actions conveyed to my daughter. I could model, and thereby train, a lifestyle of hurry, stress, irritability, and exhaustion. Or I could show her what it looked like to make the most important thing, my relationship with Christ, the most important thing. I didn’t do this perfectly, nor did my spiritual practices remain the same each season. But I tried to follow the Spirit’s leading each day and to train her to do the same.
This was how Jesus consistently lived. Considering today’s passage, pause to imagine the impact of His behavior on His disciples. Although this was early in His ministry, He had gathered quite a crowd of desperate, hurting people. The hungry who worried about having enough food for their children. The paralyzed, the terminally ill, those enslaved to demons, and isolated by leprosy.
The disciples hadn’t been following Him for long, nor did they have any ministry experience prior. Suddenly, they were thrust into the equivalent of a Billy Graham crusade multiplied by ten. Except, in this case, anguished cries replaced the sound of songs and praise. The emotional weight of it all, to be confronted with such suffering, must have felt overwhelming.
The disciples appeared to respond like many of us might—with a panicked desire to get busy. More accurately, they wanted Jesus, the One with supernatural powers able to revive the dying (John 4:46-54) and free the oppressed. Only, they couldn’t find Him. The disciples awoke one morning and confronted a throng of anguished people outside their door, the hungry, sick, demon-possessed, and lame, but no Jesus.
I don’t know how long they searched for Him, but I can easily sense the exasperation in Mark 1:37 when they said, “Everyone is looking for you!”
In other words, “Where have you been, Jesus? Don’t you know how much these people need you?”
I love Jesus’ response in the following verse. He didn’t feel compelled to explain Himself. He simply, and presumably, calmly, replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”
Intersecting Life & Faith:
This biblical account teaches us a few things. First, we might always encounter more needs than we are able to meet. There will always be people clamoring for our attention or help. And God wants us to love our people well. But in order to do so, we also need to take time to spiritually refuel—even if that means leaving our loved ones or friends exasperated.
Jesus’ behavior also reminds us that we don’t need to become defensive when someone questions how or when we connect with God. We don’t have to explain ourselves to others. Granted, the Holy Spirit might invite us to do so, as He did with Jesus on other occasions. But may we do so by His leading and with the quiet confidence of one who knows they are indeed following God.
I also find it intriguing that Scripture doesn’t define how much time we should spend connecting with God. In fact, much of Jesus’ ministry was inviting people to break free from adherence to rules to embrace a gentle, relational encounter with Him where we learn to recognize and follow to His voice.
And finally, this account also shows us that we can’t remain in our figurative prayer closets forever. We sit with Jesus, through prayer, worship and Bible reading, so that we can love well our friends, family, and whomever the Lord brings our way.
Further Reading:
Psalm 63:1-8
Psalm 16:2-11
Colossians 4:2
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/RyanJLane
Jennifer Slattery is a writer and speaker who co-hosts the Faith Over Fear podcast and, along with a team of 6, the Your Daily Bible Verse podcast. She’s addressed women’s groups, Bible studies, and taught at writers conferences across the nation. She’s the author of Building a Family and numerous other titles and maintains a devotional blog at JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLou
She’s passionate about helping people experience Christ’s freedom in all areas of their lives. Visit her online to learn more about her speaking or to book her for your next women’s event, and sign up for her free quarterly newsletter HERE and make sure to connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and GodTube.
Check out fantastic resources on Faith, Family, and Fun at Crosswalk.com!
Related Resource: 3 Simple Steps to Manage Your Emotions
Are you tired of up-and-down feelings stealing your peace, sabotaging your relationships, and filling your mind with self-defeating thoughts? What if you had a proven emotional management tool to biblically respond to your feelings with compassion and clarity? Join us for today’s episode to discover three simple steps to manage emotions, reduce stress, improve decision-making, and grow closer to God. If you like what you hear, be sure to subscribe to The Love Offering on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
