BBD 06.27.07 Time-Out
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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06.27.07
Time-Out
Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out
and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. - Mark 1:35.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7.
But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" - Matthew
4:4.
In the Philippines, a man and an accomplice broke into a house in Manila and
robbed the residents of the home of two cell phones. A police patrol in the
area heard screams coming from the house and were able to begin chasing one
of the robbers. After a short chase the man they were chasing began to use
hand signals to ask for a time-out. Erwin Buenceso, who was one of the
officers chasing the robber said, "He was panting and gasping for air when
we caught up with him after a 500 meter sprint."
I think I know exactly how that robber felt because life can sometimes be a
sprint through each day and into the night. Challenges at work, challenges
at home, challenges with your family, obstacles to the left and to the right
and you may very well feel as though you need a time-out. You need a
vacation but you don't have the time or the money to take one. You need a
break, you need a live in nanny to take care of the kids but it's the real
world where you live and that is not going to happen. So what do you do?
Where do you turn? Do you just try to maintain your dignity and go down with
the ship? Do you just keep that stiff upper lip and keep on keeping on? You
keep signaling for a time-out but no one sees.
When you are past due for a time-out what would God have you to do? Martin
Luther once said during a very busy time of his life, "I am so busy now that
if I did not spend three hours each day in prayer, I could not get through
the day." Tommy Barnett, pastor of Phoenix First Assembly says, "I've
discovered it is not sufficient simply to try to take time for quietness but
that I must, with all diligence, make time. Whatever keeps me from prayer,
solitude, and the Bible, however good it appears, is my enemy if I am to be
God's devoted friend and follower." It does not calculate in our human
brains that when we have no extra time that if we spend time in prayer that
it will mean that we have more time. When everything is coming apart at the
seams, we think we must become busier, doing more and more and more.
However, that is the way of defeat, anxiety, depression, and loss.
Jesus had a quiet time, a time-out, alone early in the morning during which
He spent time with the Father. It is an example that we need to follow
bathing everything in our lives in prayer along with reading the Word of God
to gain the spiritual sustenance that we need to face the challenges of each
day. So, what are you waiting for? Why not have a time-out with the Lord
right now? Because the busier you are the more you need His help,
empowerment, and provision for the day.
Copyright © 2007. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
on a non-profit basis with source credited. The Burning Bush website has
been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email version of the
Burning Bush Devotional was first sent.
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