Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.” But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.” So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons. Mark 1:35-39 NLT
“Margin can be described as the difference between our load and our limits,” according to Dr. Richard Swenson. When we go beyond what our limits should be we experience overload. God has intentionally designed life so that it is impossible to thrive without margin.
Jesus knew that. We all claim busy lives, but none of us can touch the significant demands on Jesus. Mark 1 tells us how He managed it from the beginning. This chapter records the first day of Jesus’ ministry. Early in the day, Jesus walks into a synagogue and blows the crowd away with His preaching. First time. The message is barely over, and a demon-oppressed man begins screaming and disrupting. Jesus casts out the demon and heals the man. Then immediately (that is a favorite word Mark uses all through his book) Jesus goes to Peter’s house where his mother-in-law is deathly ill with a fever. Jesus heals her so completely that she gets up and cooks dinner for the crowd. After dinner, the news had spread and the whole town shows up with dozens of sick and demon-possessed people, and Jesus tirelessly heals them all. Eventually He falls onto the cot Peter provides and He gets some sleep. What a day! What a start to ministry! The future looks bright. It can only get better.
What would we do with that kind of start? Most of us would kill for that kind of momentum and success on what we are doing, especially when we are doing it for God. We would immediately strategize on how to build on it. We would get busy planning to be back at the synagogue next Sabbath with multiple services. We would plan a healing rally or an advertising campaign. We would be strategizing whatever we could do to maximize what just happened.
Not Jesus. The next morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went out alone to pray and be renewed by His Father. When Simon and the others awakened, they quickly discovered Jesus’ popularity, and opportunities were soaring. Everyone was looking for Him! They found Jesus and gave Him the great news, no doubt assuming He would capitalize on the momentum. But Jesus stuck to the plan. He knew His limits and the load He could carry within the Father’s plan. He did not make “opportunity” His driver. He stayed with His priorities.
- Jesus was not a people-pleaser. He loved wisely. He led from His priorities, not His opportunities. He did MUCH but not everything. He knew how to say NO. He knew His limits and He knew He needed rest and refueling from the Father. We do too.