Rest and Compassion
Mark 6:30 – Then the apostles gathered around Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught. 31 – He said to them, “Come with me privately to an isolated place and rest a while” (for many were coming and going, and there was no time to eat). 32 – So they went away by themselves in a boat to some remote place.
Remember Jesus had recently sent the apostles out two by two to preach the message of repentance. Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits and they anointed sick people with oil and healed them. Time passed, their missions were accomplished and they returned to Jesus eager to share the stories of all they had done.
I can relate to this a little. I am part of pastoral team and there are specific times in the year in which we leave our districts, where we’ve been sent to preach the Word of God, to come together and rest awhile. These times are always filled with fellowship, fun, instruction, and opportunities to share our experiences with each other. Instead of doing the feeding, it’s a great time to rest and be fed.
However, for some of us, that time doesn’t always happen. Jesus’ original plan was to take the apostles and allow them to rest away from all the people. As pastors we regard those times of coming together as vital to our continued growth and development. But there are times when the needs of our flock require attention and we are unable to meet with the team.
Look at what happened to Jesus and the apostles that prevented them from going ahead with their plans to rest privately.
Verse 33 – but many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they hurried on foot from all the towns and arrived there ahead of them. 34 – As Jesus came ashore he saw the large crowd and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he taught them many things.
There are always things to learn from Jesus. In this instance it was how Jesus postponed the rest he wanted for the apostles in order to have compassion on the crowd of people who were yearning for His Words of life. We need to make times in which to rest but sometimes things happen within our flocks, our families, our networks of people we know, or maybe even the strangers that come to our gates, that require us to have the flexibility to alter those plans in order to practice compassion.
Proverbs 16:9 says – A person plans his course, but the LORD directs his steps.
May we allow the Lord to direct our steps today even if it calls for our plans to change.
Where two are gathered 