Rest and Prayer
We have been studying through Mark with the college students and this past Wednesday we talked a lot about rejection, we read through Mark 6 where Jesus returns to his hometown and he is quickly rejected, shortly after this rejection Jesus learns that John the Baptist has been executed. He then tries to go to a secluded place to rest yet He is followed by a multitude of people then Jesus feeds them, the 5,000. Despite the rejection and the loss of John, despite the attempt at rest and time away, Jesus didn’t let his circumstances define who he was or what he was doing. He still looked upon the crowd with genuine love and care wanting to make sure that they were fed both physically and spiritually. It was until after he had provided for them that he was able to find time for prayer. What can we learn from this, we shouldn’t let our circumstances define who we are or what we are called to do. We shouldn’t let rejection turn us away, yet instead, we should follow the instruction of Jesus to the disciples, and if someone rejects us, we need to shake the dust off and move on. But also, we need to keep in mind that rest and prayer are important parts of our spiritual lives. Don’t let rest get in the way of serving and loving others, but also don’t forget to rest and pray so that you can serve and love others. It can be an interesting balance.
Things seem to be slowing down just a bit around the Bible Chair, we had our fall retreat, and it was incredible Jake Perkins did a fantastic job, I encourage you to go listen to the audio of his lessons you can find them at BuffsforChrist.com after the retreat we stayed busy with our normal weekly activities and homecoming then we traveled to Claude for a supporting Church visit. For the next few weeks, things will be normal, with plenty of time for rest and prayer. Then things will pick back up again as we travel to Seagraves, volunteer with the Special Olympics, and head into the Holiday Season. As always, we appreciate the loving support, and encouragement, we receive from UCC and our other supporting congregation.
