Evening

April 10

Mark 1:35, 37-38 ³⁵Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

³⁷and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" ³⁸Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else–to the nearby villages–so I can preach there also. That is why I have come."

Shortly after Jesus moved His ministry from Nazareth to Capernaum, He became swamped with requests for healing. The whole town waited outside the door of the home where He stayed (verse 33). This would have been the epitome of success to any rabbi of that day. To connect with the masses in such a way as to have them begging for more would have been the pinnacle of achievement. Jesus did not measure His success by man's standards. You can be sure He was kept up late with the demands the people placed upon Him for ministry, yet, early in the morning, before dawn, He got up before anyone else to find time alone with His Father to seek direction for the approaching day.

The disciples went searching for Him because everyone was clamoring for more. "Jesus! It's revival! Hurry back and capitalize on the situation. What are you doing out here all alone?" Jesus response must have dumbfounded them. "Time to move on boys. We have other cities that need to hear the Gospel. I didn't come to be a star; I came to share the good news of kingdom of God."

I wonder how much man has interfered with the work of God by staying when it was time to go, by being enamored with success when God desired fruit that endures. If we really want to be a success in the eyes of the One that made us and called us, we need to take time alone with Him to get our direction. Let us take our eyes off the things that man focuses on and focus on the Father's direction.

Consider: Fame is fickle. Fortune is fleeting, but pleasing the heart of God is fulfillment and joy that runs deeper than circumstance and time. Are you taking time to hear the Father's direction?