January 30
Verse of the Day for January 30
And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.Luke 5:16 KJV
The Key of Beginnings · Day 30 of 31
Reflection · 3 min read
He Withdrew Himself
A leper has been cleansed, the news has spread, and Luke says great multitudes came together to hear and be healed. The demand is at its highest point so far in the gospel.
And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
The tense in Greek is continuous — he was withdrawing, repeatedly, as a practice. Luke is not reporting one afternoon. He is describing what Jesus habitually did when the crowds grew.
Luke has already shown us what the pressure looked like. Men were tearing a roof apart to get to him; a whole city had gathered at a door the chapter before. Against that, withdrawing looks almost irresponsible, and he did it anyway.
Which is the opposite of the instinct. Growing demand normally produces more availability, not less.
There is no note that anyone was turned away permanently or that the ministry suffered. The withdrawing is presented as ordinary, unexplained and repeated, in the same breath as the multitudes.
The crowds grew.He kept withdrawing.
If you only get alone with God when nothing is happening, the busiest seasons of your life will be the least accompanied.
He did it when it was least convenient, and did it often enough that Luke used a continuous tense.
Carry this today
Do you get alone with God only when life goes quiet?
Pray
Read Luke 5:12–16
12And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 13And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him. 14And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. 15But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. 16And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.
Keep praying
Reflection by Collins Asein, from the daily devotionals in the PrayerKey app. Bible text: King James Version.