I Need Some Peace and Quiet!

Bible Reading

Luke 5

Devotional Thoughts

Yesterday I wrote about “The most important part of my day.” How Jesus, even after an incredible busy night of ministry, still made it a priority to wake up early, go to a quiet place, and spend time with His Father. In my time with God this morning the Lord has continued that challenge. A book that has been getting passed around here is titled, “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.” by John Mark Comer. Since my students have been reading it, I thought it would be good for me to read it too, so I started reading it this week. After writing my devotional yesterday, I read chapter 7 of Comer’s book, “Silence and Solitude.”

Comer follows Jesus relationship to “the quiet place,” or his times of solitude. Comer said, “In Luke’s gospel in particular, you can chart Jesus’ life along two axis points: the busier and more in demand and famous Jesus became, and the more he withdrew to his quiet place to pray.” I was quite challenged by how he described the different occasions when you see Jesus withdrawing. In Luke’s gospel we see Jesus going to his quiet place no less than 9 times.

Matthew 4:1-3 The first time we see Jesus go to the “quiet place” or “deserted place” is right after his temptation. While often we see this as a negative thing, “Why would God lead him into the desert where he would get tempted?” Comer brings a different thought to that.

“The wilderness isn’t the place of weakness; it’s the place of strength. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness” because it was there, and only there, that Jesus was at the height of his spiritual powers. It was only after a month and a half of prayer and fasting in the quiet place that he had the capacity to take on the devil himself and walk away unscathed.”

This is why we see Jesus, over and over again, going to the quiet place. We saw it yesterday in Luke 4:40-43. This morning I read it again in Luke 5:16. In Mark 1:35 we see, after a late night of ministry, Jesus, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place [eremos], where he prayed.

I love how Comer described this scene. Mark 1 is essentially one long chapter about Jesus’ first day on the job as the Messiah. It was a marathon day; he was up early, teaching in the synagogue, then healing Peter’s mother-in-law over lunch, then up late healing the sick and demonized. He must have been well beyond exhausted. But, the next morning we find Jesus rising early to go and pray. To clarify, Jesus went to the quiet place for a month and a half. Came back to Capernaum for one day of busy activity. Then he headed straight back to the eremos to pray.

Jesus came out of the wilderness with all sorts of clarity about his identity and calling. He was grounded. Centered. In touch with God and himself. From that place of emotional equilibrium and spiritual succor, he knew precisely what to say yes to and, just as importantly, what to say no to.
Hence: as the Gospels go on, you quickly realize the quiet place was top priority for Jesus.
In Mark 6:30-32 Jesus and his disciples (Comer calls them apprentices) find themselves so busy ministering to people that they did not even have a chance to eat. So, what does Jesus tell his overbusy, overtired apprentices? Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place [eremos] and get some rest. (Mark 6:31)

The end of that story in Mark Jesus sends his disciples in a boat, and what does Jesus do? (Mark 6:46) Jesus goes and spends the whole night in prayer. I concur with Comer’s comments on this event. “I used to read the ending to this story and think, Wow, Jesus is so spiritual—up all night praying! And he was. But notice why he was up all night praying. Because it was the only time he could find to be alone in the quiet! He was so busy that he literally didn’t have a moment alone all day long, so all he could think to do was send his apprentices away and stay up all night on a mountain (the word eremos isn’t used here, but a mountaintop at midnight fits the bill). Because he knew that time alone with his Father was even more important than sleep itself.”

In Luke 5, the passage I read today, we find as Jesus continues to do messianic signs and miracles, the busier and more in demand and famous Jesus became, and the more he withdrew to his quiet place to pray. (Luke 5:16-17) Usually for us it’s the exact opposite. When we get overbusy and life is hectic and people are vying for our time, the quiet place is the first thing to go rather than our first go to. The first thing we lose is unhurried time to just sit with God in the quiet. 

Comer ends this section with a challenge, and I think I’ll end with this too. “In seasons of busyness we need more time in the quiet place, not less, definitely not less. And if you’re running through your Rolodex of excuses right now—I’m a full-time mom, I have a demanding job that starts early, I’m an extrovert, I have ADHD, etc.—stop for a minute. Think about this: Jesus needed time in the quiet place. I repeat, Jesus needed time. And a fair bit of it. You think you don’t?

Declarations:

• I need you, oh I need you, every hour I need you!
• Instead of my busyness becoming an excuse for not spending time with God, may it remind me how much more I need his direction and peace to face today’s demands.
• As Jesus chose to spend the night in prayer, after not having the time to spend with God that day, I choose to make time in the quiet place with God a priority every day. If not first thing, I will end my day with it.