Are you obedient?
Our small group is studying Mark’s gospel. This week we read these verses:
Very 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. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!”
Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” Mark 1:35-38
He’d been teaching and healing, helping people. He was doing good things in this town, and obviously the word had spread. And now He walked away from them.
How did He find that kind of courage? How could He be so absolutely certain of His mission that He turned away from people who needed Him?
It’s one thing to wonder what I’m supposed to do. In fact, perhaps the best excuse for inaction is ‘I’m not sure what God wants.” I can procrastinate forever as long as I seek absolute certainty about God’s direction.
But what if I know what He wants and it doesn’t make sense? Or it’s scary or risky or uncomfortable?
People were hungry to hear Jesus. They needed His healing touch. I’m sure He wanted to meet their needs. Teaching and healing are good things. I think it was hard for Jesus to walk away.
I don’t know what He said when He went off to pray, but I imagine He talked to God about two things. I think He asked for clarity about His mission, and I think He asked for the courage to turn away from easy good things in order to focus on the hard great thing He came to accomplish.
I can find a lot of easy good things to do. They make me feel good, they help people, and others are impressed. I don’t need much help from God.
I’m afraid of hard great things.
That’s where obedience begins.
I need the courage to turn away from “easy good” and face “hard great.”
Can you think of areas where you use easy good things to avoid hard great things?
Please leave a comment.
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