Feeling fried, burnt-out, pulled in a thousand directions with bitterness and exhaustion as battle wounds? Even Jesus didn’t meet every need and neither should you. In Mark 1, we are reminded how to walk the straight and narrow that God has already mapped out for us in advance, grounded, each in our own purposes.
The Answer is Prayer
“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. (Mark 1:36)
When Jesus was surrounded by large multitudes of people he was ministering to for a period of time, he often would later retreat to desolate places in the desert and mountains alone to pray. After long days spent healing and preaching, these weren’t quick summary prayers, but even in his exhaustion, he spent hours and even full nights in prayer afterward. (Luke 6:12)
If Jesus knew that it was necessary to retreat in prayer after his ministries, how much more do we: sinful, weak, distracted, human beings need to as well?
Are You Ministering?
Don’t think of ministry as something only left to the pastors, missionaries, and bible study teachers either. Ministry is surrounding us all day, every day, should we choose to see it and be open to it. Ministry is when we serve our spouse, it’s when we teach and take care of our children, it’s being a good friend, it’s working as unto the Lord at our jobs, it’s friendliness to strangers. It’s our words, our actions, and our gifts that we use every single day.
Surrounded by Needs
The rest of the verse reads, “And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” (Mark 1:36–38)
Jesus knew that even though there were still needs where he was at, he knew it was time to move on, to continue with his intended purpose, He knew His why. His ministry was not to heal every single sick person, as amazing and life-changing as that was. His ultimate purpose was to share the gospel of God’s saving grace to a lost people who needed to know they could hope in a Savior for the forgiveness of their sins.
God has given us each different unique purposes. I recently heard the search for them described as a life-long easter egg hunt for the good works that God has prepared for us in advance to do.
Staying Grounded
Jesus took time away from all of the people, the distractions, his friends, his followers, the needs, no matter how great, to pray. This is how we abide in Christ in the midst of a million things to do and needs that are never fully met. Because He stayed grounded in prayer and knew exactly what His Father wanted of him, he was able to walk away from works that we would percieve as undone as well all the praise of the people in this village.
“Jesus in this village is a ROCK STAR. He is the most popular guy there. Popularity is so intoxicating. On Instagram you do one funny thing and suddenly you’re instafamous. Jesus has got it — all the popularity and all of the power.
He has everything that a lot of us spend our whole lives trying to achieve.
And he walks away. Jesus decides to leave. Not in the midst of failure, but in
success.Why did he do it? Because he was so convinced that God has called him to something else.
He went into all of galilee teaching the gospel.” — Justin White, Harbor Church West Oahu
Your Unique Purpose
Although there are real needs and good opportunities that will constantly surround us, God has given each of us a specific ministry and way to share the gospel and to do good works that align with our story, our experiences, and the gifts that we each have.
When we can stay close to him and the unique why that he has given us, it can keep us from getting side-tracked by not just every need out there, but also the glitz and glamour of different opportunities and people and places that may sound sparkly, but ultimately will distract us from God’s purposes.
Find Your Mountain!
So if you’re feeling distracted, unclear on your purpose, or attempting to meet all the needs, all the time, it’s time for you to find your mountain top, find your desert, or maybe even just your prayer closet and make sure you retreat there repeatedly to know and to stay grounded and on the course that God has specifically mapped out for you.
