“Yet he often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.” Luke 5:16

Life is a lot. 

Even when I only consider the elements that derive from having a family there’s health concerns, financial matters, activity schedules, scholastic endeavors, church activities, spiritual and mental growth pains, and the never-ending regularity of finding something to eat. That doesn’t even consider my own personal needs or those of my extended family, church groups, community, or workplace. 

Whenever I start to feel overwhelmed, someone will inevitably say that I need to slow down, let something go, stop trying to be superwoman. Rarely does that person have a suggestion of what to put down or how to handle the repercussions of doing so. 

Because there didn’t seem to be a solution, I took that as proof that I did, indeed, have to do it all. There’s a saying in certain medical communities, though, that says we have to schedule time to rest or our body will schedule it for us. 

We know that this is true so we ask for some “alone time” or tell everyone we’re going to “take a break” but, if you’re anything like me, that’s just an excuse to drop a few less urgent engagements so that you can focus on catching up on everything else. I don’t actually step away from anything. 

Until I had to. 

Should We Withdraw

Jesus knew our human capacity because he was there when it was designed. He saw every change and adjustment made over time. Knew that the mind and body could only take so much so he often withdrew. He stepped away from everything except God, engaging in activities designed to strengthen the relationship between man and God such as prayer and fasting. 

Often people take this idea and say that means we need a daily quiet time, a place carved out of our schedule to connect with God, read scripture, and work through the ACTS prayer acronym. 

I know I’m not the only person that brings life right along with them in to that quiet time. Whether it’s the multitude of prayer requests or the nagging little voice reminding me I need to buy more bathroom cleaner while I read about mold in Leviticus, there are plenty of signs that I haven’t really withdrawn from anything. 

But like our mind and body, God will sometimes take the schedule into his own hands when we aren’t listening to him properly. 

When There’s No Choice

A few years ago, I was forced to withdraw from writing for a while. There were things I needed to focus on in my personal life to improve my physical and my mental health. I fought this withdrawal. I kept struggling to write, kept telling people things were coming along, kept trying to push for words that just weren’t letting themselves be found. If I had truly stepped away and used that same effort to focus on God and the areas of improvement he’d revealed, I think the time would have been shorter (and the resulting books way better). 

What is important about this verse, though, isn’t just how it tells us Jesus also needed to withdraw from everything, it’s what lies both before and after this reminder. You see, it isn’t just about being obedient to withdraw, it’s what you do while you’re in the deserted place and how you come back from it. 

Before this verse, Jesus heals a leper and then tells him not to tell anybody but the priest about the miracle. According to Mark (1:40-45) the leper did the exact opposite. It’s understandable from our human perspective. How in the world could someone be expected to stay silent when they’ve just had their entire lost life returned to them? 

The result of Jesus’s growing fame as a healer started causing a bit of a crowd problem. 

So Jesus often withdrew. 

Jesus Set the Example

But after this verse, we see how Jesus used those crowds and that fame to start teaching people a different way of looking at God and forgiveness and even sin. He was teaching when some men tore away a roof to get their sick friend to Jesus. Jesus could have just healed the man, could have made his reputation even greater. Instead he did what he needed to do but with a spin that allowed him to talk about who he actually was and how God forgives. 

The goal of withdrawing from life, whether it’s for ten minutes, ten days, or ten weeks, is to come back renewed in both spirit and focus with the strength to move as God is wanting you to. It’s not about filling the battery just so you can keep doing it the way you did before you stepped out of the circle. 

It takes trust to withdraw because the truth is, that thing you put down just might not be there when you get back or it might look completely different. But I have found Jesus’s example to be true. When we trust God to hold on to something while we withdraw, what we get back when we return is so much better if we look at it from God’s perspective instead of the world’s.