Mark 6:30-34
“He said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.’ People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat.” (Mark 6:31)
When looking for a place of rest and refreshment, I’m not sure many of us look for the deserted place. The deserted place can be a place where the heavy troubles of our hearts and mind have nothing to hide behind, rather they come fully front and center. In praying with this verse from Scripture, this verse seemed to speak into the very place I find myself in this new season.
The disciples have followed in obedience and worked to bring his kingdom to the people, and have now returned having given all they had. The Lord looks tenderly upon his faithful followers, and calls them to Himself. In the deserted place we see the reality of our limitations. That we only have so much to offer, that we become tired, that we still see the countless many who need to be fed by Him, and can feel we have nothing left to give.
In realizing this poverty, do we lean in and go to Him for rest? How often do we instead try to push through by our own strength. It is at this very point, where we reach the end of ourselves, that the Lord invites us to accept our frailty, to allow ourselves the vulnerability to be utterly dependent on Him.
I think the context for today’s passage provides more for our understanding; this passage comes just before the feeding of the five thousand. When the disciples themselves will have nothing to offer for the many and are invited to trust his provision and instruction, He Himself provides in the greatest measure! Today, let us not be afraid to enter the deserted place, because we know the One who calls us there. He will meet us in our poverty, our weakness, and our hurts, and promises to look tenderly upon us. By bringing ourselves so meekly before Him, we can trust He will provide grace and love to these poorest areas and use them for his abundant glory.
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