Humans are sleeping. Dogs aren’t barking. Not even our four-legged Phoenix, audible three miles away. The sun has a little ways till it’s completely up and about like a busy mama hovering over us with its summer warmth.
The busiest are the skies, as metal birds fly in careful straight lines … shifting people from one spot to another. Just a tad longer, and all humans land on their feet and get crazy busy. A-g-a-i-n.
In case I was confusing. It’s the cool of the early morning. And I am sitting on our porch.
Never once did I regret trading less hours of sleep for quality time devouring the Bible, and engaging in prayer with my Maker. Waking up before the world needs us offers us the gift of undivided focus .
We don’t have to wake up early. We get to.
It’s then when Jesus had quality conversations with the Father.
“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.” Mark 1:35 NIV
What an invitation! To stop snoozing the morning alarm. Get out of bed. And out of the house.
Why out of bed? It’s where I might snooze again.
Why out of the house? It’s where my laundry beckons me to fold it, the dusty furniture begs for a wet cloth, and the cups in the sink scream “We won’t wash ourselves!” It’s where my long-winded list of tasks, phone calls, and errands get me side-tracked.
A solitary place is wise. I can’t physically leave my house. But, I can find an anti-social and withdrawn spot that’s away from distractions. At times, that’s my bathroom floor.
I am busy. You are busy. And so was Jesus.
But, thank God we don’t have to save the world. He already did. (Although, too often I run around like a chicken without a head acting as if I am the Saviour-ette of the world. )
Jesus was busier than thou. In just three years He had to gather up the largest “social media following” of all times. Without YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. And what He did on the cross went more viral than all viral videos put together.
Yet, He was always intentional to desocialize with men and socialize with the Father. (Nowadays I might get called racist for such a statement.)
“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Luke 5:16 NIV
Mark jotted down in his gospel of how crazy busy it got once for Jesus, to the point that at the end of the evening He sleeps like a log during a storm.
☑️ “Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd .. followed.” Mark 3:7
☑️ “Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.” Mark 3:20
☑️ “The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it .. He taught them many things…” Mark 4:1
The boat Jesus taught from was his stage. That evening, after a full-to-the-brim day, He invited the disciples to go behind the stage “Let us go over to the other side.” (Mark 4:35)
Was it an invitation, or a demand?
Jesus tells the disciples to go in the opposite direction of the audience that made them skip meals, burn out calories, and wore them out physically to the point that Jesus hits the hay in the back of the boat as “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.” Mark 4:37-38
Are we too busy to stop and have unhurried time with our Maker? Stop serving the King, if you are not going to spend time with the King.
Let’s declutter our life, our house, our schedule, even our relationships so we can have spacious freedom to indulge in a focused and delightful time with Him.
I heard someone say “Hurry is not of the devil. Hurry is the devil.” Let’s stop adding a third sport for our kids, longer office hours, more parties at the weekend, more time-consuming WhatsApp groups giving God the leftovers of our energy, time and space.
Let’s book-end our day with Jesus and socialize with our Maker.
“‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Matthew 15:8 NIV