Daily Devotional for June 7, 2012
Good
morning!
Jesus got tired sometimes. Really tired.
I think we often forget that he was as much human as he was divine.
In today’s gospel reading in Matthew, Jesus
is exhausted from the physical and emotional demands of ministry. So he takes a
boat to a deserted place to be by himself and recover. Unfortunately, he has become so well known
for his healings that the crowds find him, anyway. They follow him on foot from the towns.
When Jesus sees the crowds, he feels
compassion, though he is weary. He
continues to heal the sick, disregarding his own need for rest. Hours later, the disciples are so worn out
and hungry that they beg Jesus to send the crowds away so they may go into the
villages and find food.
Jesus says no, don’t send them away. Feed them here.
The disciples say, “But Lord, we don’t have
any food—nothing but 5 loaves of bread and a few fish.”
What follows is one of Christ’s miracles—the
feeding of the 5,000 with a few loaves and fish. And there was food left over!
What inspires me in this passage is that
Jesus gets very tired – just like we do—and yet he pushes on to continue in His
Father’s ministry. His compassion moves
him to do these things, to rise above physical or emotional discomfort. That happens to me sometimes and I am sure it
happens to you. When there is a need,
you seek to meet it, despite how tired you might feel and how full your
schedule is. It isn’t wrong to do
that. Your heart tells you it is the
right thing.
But I am inspired, as always, by Christ’s
recognition of his own need to be alone with the Father. When you are physically tired, you are also
emotionally and spiritually tired. We
need the Spirit to refill and renew us.
That happens best when we are alone with God in a place where there
won’t be all the distractions of daily life and responsibilities. Recognize your own need to be alone with God
and you will be blessed with peace and rest.
And I am always uplifted by the retelling of
the miracle of God’s compassion and provision for us. No matter how hopeless our situation may
seem, God can make something good happen. He will provide us with what we need,
maybe in a way we cannot imagine.
We
cannot predict the goodness of God, but we can count on His goodness and
love. Those things will never change.
When people say negative things to you and
try to steal your joy or hope, remember that we have a God of miracles who
loves us! He heals the sick, comforts
the grieving, and brings us joy and strength, even during the difficult times
of our lives.
Believe!
Believe! Believe in Jesus as your
Savior and Lord.
Prayer:
Loving Creator God, you are our God!
We worship only you. We place our
trust in you. We believe in a God of
miracles whose love and provision for us will never end—not in this world, nor
in the kingdom to come. Comfort those
who are grieving this day. Be with the
Wordes family, who lost a husband, a father, and a grandfather when Delton
passed away last night. Give us a vision
of your heavenly kingdom of light, where there is no hunger, no sadness, no
pain. And there is only love. We long for Christ’s return and for your
kingdom to come, so that on earth it will be as it is in heaven. In Christ we pray. Amen.
Today’s
readings are Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:3; Galatians 3:1-14; Matthew 14:13-21; and
Psalm 50.
Blessings
in Christ!
Pastor
Karen
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