Matthew 14:13-14–Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Jesus just hears about His faithful servant John the Baptist getting his head cut off, knowing that it was because he Him served until death!  So of course Jesus looks to retreat to a “desolate place by himself”, but is suddenly struck with compassion by people who are in need.  Putting His need to grieve aside, in order to help people in an immediate need…

Life can certainly get like that, where we have no time to take care of ourselves, not because we are lazy, but because we are bombarded with things that need our attention immediately!  Whether that is a child going astray, a marriage that is struggling, or a unrelenting job and profession.  Life can seem “tailor made” for us to lose ourselves while trying to “fix” everything and everyone else.

But by God’s grace you come to learn the crucial lesson, that if you don’t find time to replenish yourself, you as a resource for other people will become non-existent!  Even though we have a compassionate heart to serve others, eventually if you don’t get “refueled” by God to keep that kind of heart, you will become burnt out.  Losing all compassion, which provokes us to sacrificially serve…

Though Jesus, like us, would’ve like time to grieve and pray over His own hurt, in losing John the Baptist in such a way.  But life and it’s constancy, didn’t let Him at the time He wanted.  But He did eventually, after feeding the five thousand in this passage and meeting their needs. He made time to get with His Father to pray and replenish.  Do you?

Matthew 14:23–And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone

In His Love, Ld