As a toddler, my daughter delighted in the game of chase.
Giggling as she ran through the house, she would squeal when I caught her. Then I’d pick her up, swing her around, and kiss her. Each time I set her down, she beamed and said, “Do it again.” No matter how many times I chased her through the house and lifted her in the air, she begged me to do it again. Eventually, I had to fulfill other responsibilities.
The game of chase with my daughter helped me understand why Jesus told his disciples, “Let’s go somewhere else.” After Jesus healed many in a large crowd one evening, more people searched for Him to do it again the next day. Through prayer, the Father led Him to continue His mission in other parts of Galilee.
According to God’s agenda, it was time for Jesus to preach and heal in the nearby villages. Constrained by His humanity, Jesus could only be in one place at a time. The Word made flesh required a break from the endless demands of ministry to pray, sleep, and travel. In the limited time before His death and resurrection, the Son needed to follow the Father’s agenda.
Like Jesus, we face an endless stream of pleas for help. You and I can’t give our time and money to every worthy cause clamoring for our attention. But we can ask the Lord for wisdom. God will show us which needs to meet and when and how long we should tend to those tasks.
Let God’s Spirit tell you when to do a task again and when to move on.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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David Brannock is a passionate author and speaker. He served as a pastor for seventeen years before following God into the ministry of the Word through both written and oral stories. Visit his blog Set Free to Soar at www.davidbrannock.blogspot.com. He lives in Greeneville, Tennessee, with his wife, daughter, and three cats.