⁴² Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them. ⁴³ But he replied, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.” ⁴⁴ So he continued to travel around, preaching in synagogues throughout Judea.

Luke 4:42-44

Dear God, I can’t help but wonder what happened in those isolated places Jesus would go to. How did he commune with you? Did Moses and Elijah show up sometimes? Did he just step away to get some clarity? Jesus going out to an isolated place was after an evening of healing people, rebuking demons, and keeping it under wraps that he was the Messiah.

It’s interesting that after his time alone in an isolated place he told them he was sent to “preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns.” He wasn’t just there for Capernaum. He wasn’t just there for Israel. He was there for the whole world. I can also see that if he would have stayed in any one place too long, the crowds would have gotten out of control and expected the wrong things from him. He also needed to introduce himself to enough people so that after the resurrection they would remember and join The Way.

So how does this relate to me? Well, at a minimum, I need to be getting alone in isolated places to hear from you. I need to seek your heart. I need to figure out what you want me to do with my life. And not just my vocation, but my service to others, my love for my wife, children, and extended family, and my living out my faith with you. Yes, these quiet times of intentional prayer and meditating on scripture are very important.

Father, I want to hear your, but I don’t have to hear you to make these times worthwhile. I am not here expecting anything of you except the chance to draw closer to you in this moment. If you guide me to other things through these times, then let them be things that will bring you glory and not me. Let them be things that will draw others closer to yourself regardless of what it costs me. Help me, Lord, to follow Jesus’s model of shunning acclaim and simply serving you and your plan regardless of what it costs me. Help me to only use prayer, service, persuasion, and even suffering to impact the world around me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen