The Peril of Success

Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself."

It is usually when we are struggling and things are not going well that we need to find time by ourselves with God. Our spiritual reflexes are to wait until something is going wrong relationally, vocationally or physically and then we find some time alone with God.

Not Jesus.

The crowds are swelling to an all-time high. They are wanting to see him do miracles and listen to his teachings. Things are so out of hand that it looks like they might make him their king whether he wants to be or not and what does Jesus do?

He withdraws to a quiet place all by himself to spend time with the Father. This is a great reminder. The time when we need God the most is not just in our desperation, but also in our success. In some ways it is during our times of great success that we are most vulnerable.

We tend to think we have done this on our own and that if we just continue to do what we have done more and more success will come our way. Success is a kind of drug that keeps us from feeling the spiritual pangs in our life.

I need to withdraw from it all to be with God everyday. Success or failure I need to hear from God everyday!