Thought for Monday, 27 March 2023

 Luke 5:16

But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.

What a beautiful day!  It’s still pretty cool outside but seeing almost cloudless skies with the sun shining all day must give our spirits a lift.

As I’m sitting here trying to think what to write, I‘m listening to the radio which is covering the SNP leadership campaign with the result about to be announced shortly.  A variety of so called experts are discussing the relative strengths and weaknesses of each of the three candidates and speculating about how things will change depending on which one is elected.  The more I think of this, the more I realise that a leader in any aspect of our society can only do so much.  The eventual leader in Scotland will put others in charge of various areas like education, finance and transport etc. etc.  It is similar for the leaders of most countries in the world.  Every leader must, to a greater or lesser extent depend on what others do. 

In our church in Scotland, we have the moderator of the general assembly being a figurehead or leader of sorts.  Within the same organisation, at national level and presbytery level there are committees that direct various aspects of church life.  At local level, we have ministers and interim moderators guiding their kirk sessions.

Many established ministers are approaching retirement age and it would seem, the number retiring or suffering from health problems are exceeding the number of new ministers being ordained.  I do not have figures to back this up but that is certainly what it feels like.  Ask any minister and they can will tell you that they are feeling more and more stretched.  Many churches have them playing the roles of counsellor, youth leader, event organiser, budget planner, and preacher all in one. In fact, most ministers must at various times feel overwhelmed with the amount of things they have to try to fit into the hours they have available to serve.  As with other leaders, they need help and that is something we can maybe all help with, even if it’s only doing a little thing. 

When we consider examples of leadership, we cannot ignore today’s verse.  Jesus was a perfect leader, leading by example and skilfully fielding any temptation and awkward questions that were directed to him but he often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer, for solitude and for recovery.  None of us whether we be leaders or followers can be on the go all the time. Our bodies need rest and need rejuvenation through the Word of God and spending time with our Lord.

Prayer –  Heavenly Father, help us regularly set time aside to just talk to you, to thank you for the good things in our life and to ask for your intervention at the challenging times in our lives.  Help us pour out our hearts to you, to seek your wisdom and to ask for your forgiveness for all the times we get things wrong and help us to always remember others in our prayers.  Amen