Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 67 · March 8
The Rest That Did Not Come
“And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.”
Friend,
We quote this verse to each other when we are tired, and we usually quote only the half that helps: "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while." It gets read at retreats and printed under photos of lakes. We all nod, and then we go back to work.
Before you build anything on it, I want you to read the verses that come next.
The apostles have just come back from the first mission Jesus sent them on, two by two. They are full of what they have done and taught, and He listens to all of it. He can see they are worn out, "for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat." So they get into a boat to find a quiet place. But "the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him." The crowd runs on foot and gets there before the boat does. The quiet day is over before it starts.
What Jesus does next is the part I want you to have. "And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd." Mark records no sigh, and no complaint to the twelve that this always happens. Jesus teaches the crowd until the day is far spent. He feeds five thousand men with five loaves and two fish. He sends the disciples off in the boat and sends the people home. Only then, at verse forty-six, does He get the quiet He had set out to find: "he departed into a mountain to pray." He took His rest later, alone, as evening came, at the end of a very long day.
So here is my blessing for you. May your good plans survive being spoiled. On the days your rest is taken from you, may you know that you have not been robbed, because what you need from God will still be there late at night, when the house finally goes quiet. And may you be given the same compassion Jesus had for the crowd that ran ahead to reach Him, because that is how He looks at you too.
Grace and peace,
a fellow learner
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 67 is Made Near (Ephesians 2:13).