Mark 6:31

Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.

The disciples had just returned from their first mission trip, and they were full of it. They couldn’t wait to update Jesus and he, in turn, was keen to hear what had been going on. He invited them to head off with him to a quiet place where they could have quality time together and catch up on all the news. It was a great plan, but it failed spectacularly. As they headed off in their boat, the crowd spotted them and reached their destination before they did!

I draw two conclusions from this fascinating account. Firstly, Jesus valued the opportunity for taking time out. He cared for his disciples and was aware of the pressure that they were under. Mark records that there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his disciples didn’t even have enough time to eat. They desperately needed to get away from it all. We are just the same. We can’t keep going at full pace all the time. There are times when we need to have a deliberate plan to stop.

However, the second conclusion I draw is that our plans don’t always work out! If Jesus’ plan for having some quiet time with his disciples failed, we shouldn’t be surprised when ours don’t work out. We ought to plan to have quiet times and breaks in our busy routines, but we always need to be light on our feet. Mark tells us that when Jesus stepped out of the boat, he had compassion on the people because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He wasn’t going to ignore their needs, so he scrapped the original plan and ministered to the crowds.

I love the realism of this account and the fact that Jesus was so flexible. His intention was to serve God his Father and he was committed to doing so even when it mucked up his original plans.

Question

How good are you at being flexible when your plans suddenly change?

Prayer

Loving Father, help me to serve you effectively, even when things don’t work out in the way that I had planned. Amen