Daily devotion – Preventative medicine.
Mark 6:31
“And He said to them, ‘Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.’ For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.”
There are times—sometimes even whole days—when it feels as though we’ve lost control of our time. Instead of leading our day, we find ourselves reacting to it, rushing from one small brushfire to the next as they keep flaring up without warning.
A flat tyre on the way to work.
A garage door that suddenly refuses to open.
A hot water system or refrigerator that has abruptly decided its working days are over.
We bounce from phone call to phone call, appointment to appointment, and before we know it, the day is gone—leaving us exhausted, frustrated, and spent.
The disciples experienced days like this too. Along with Jesus, they had been ministering continuously. There had been no real breaks, no proper meals, and the people just kept coming. Seeing this, Jesus lovingly called them aside and said, in effect, “Come apart for a while… before you come apart.”
Our Lord knew that constant demands without rest would eventually take their toll.
There is a way to build a preventative overload system into our lives—one that helps stop these kinds of days from becoming the norm rather than the exception.
Before each new day truly begins, build in some fail-safe spiritual priorities:
Let prayer be the first words that come out of your mouth.
Make the Bible the first thing you read—yes, even before your phone or emails.
Verbally commit your day into the Lord’s leading and guidance.
And as you do, you’ll find that instead of coming apart, you’ll be held together by His grace.
Because rest, when directed by Jesus, is not a luxury—it’s a necessity.