Being Stretched

St. Mark give us a picture of the very human side of ministry, one to which we can all identify from the ministry of parenting to teaching, to nurturing souls and healing bodies.  There is no end to the demands made on us and even our best intentions to go "apart and rest awhile" are thwarted:  the child who awakes with a fever in the middle of the night, the client or patient who calls at all hours for help, the phone call just as we are about to leave work. We are all to familiar with this.  Jesus and the apostles were no different.  After the apostle reported to Jesus all they had done, he thought it best for all of them to withdraw to a deserted, quiet place to recoup, for they didn't even have time to eat, so busy were they.  Hoping to sneak off in a boat, they set sail, but the people saw this and met them  in large numbers at their destination.  So much for the time apart to rest.  Jesus, moved with pity began to teach again. (cf. Mk 6:30-34).So it is so often with us:  "forced into continuing" as if there were a designed plot to keep us from needed rest or sleep.  Day after day, night after night this seems to be the case.  Yet, somehow we do it.  We are given the strength and stamina we never thought we had, and somehow find ourselves refreshed from the extra giving. God sees us in our plight and takes care of us.  When we feel we are being stretched beyond our capacity, may we remember that Jesus has "been there and done that" too, and will give us what we need to continue.
Bro. Rene