Matthew 14
Scripture
Matthew 14:22-23
“Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone.”
Observation-What does it say?
Jesus had just finished performing yet another miracle. Not only did Jesus heal all the sick from the crowds of people who were following him from town to town, but Jesus decided to feed the 5,000 men (not including the women and children) that day with only using five loaves of bread and two fish! And all the people ate as much as they wanted that day, and to top it off, they even had 12 baskets of leftovers to spare! Immediately following this miracle, Jesus sent the crowds of people home and sent his disciples back on the boat to cross to the other side of the lake. After everyone was gone, Jesus went up to the hills by himself to pray.
Understanding-What does it mean?
As busy as Jesus was with helping others, teaching, discipling, and performing miracles, He still found time to recharge and rest through His alone time with God.
Throughout Scripture you will find that Jesus often set aside times to be alone and pray to God. Whether it was spending 40 days in the desert or His time in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus knew the importance of connecting to His Heavenly Father for strength, comfort, and wisdom.
We all complain about our busy schedules and the lack of time we have to accomplish our daily tasks. And the first thing we seem to sacrifice in our life is our time with God (prayer time, Bible study, and journaling). Why is that? I know I can be guilty of this. But reading this passage reminds me just how busy Jesus was in life. He had his own ministry to do, He had his disciples to groom, and on top of all that, He had people fighting for His time on all sides of Him so that they could be healed! How did he keep it all together?! I believe it's because of the emphasis He put in his life with spending time with God. He was purposeful about it. He would sneak away from the crowds and His disciples to get that one on one time He desperately needed to recharge with His Almighty Father. It was in these times Jesus found guidance, strength, and focus on what He needed to do. And He always walked away from those prayer times re-energized to keep moving on to fulfill God's will. So how did the prayer time in this passage end up for Jesus?..He rescued His disciples who were on the boat experiencing rough waters, as Jesus came to them...walking on water!!!
Life Application
If I am to call myself a follower of Christ, shouldn't I follow the things that He does? Shouldn't I make my prayer time with God a priority?
We find time in life to do the things that are important to us. Whether it is me sacrificing sleep so I can wake up early to go to the gym, or me not sitting on the couch watching television so I can spend time with my kids. We do these things because we prioritize the things in our life that are important to us. So where does God fit in? Where does His people fit in? If God truly is the head of our household and number one in our lives, our lives should reflect it.
We are approaching the month of July. A month at DSC where we find rest, relaxation, and a little break in the busyness of church activities. Let's take advantage of it! Let's use this time to reconnect with our own family, reconnect with the church family, and more importantly reconnect with God. Let's be purposeful with this time the way Jesus was purposeful with His time with God. Let's re-energize, re-focus, seek God's strength and wisdom through it. Let's see what miracle He has in store for us at DSC because of it!