The Small Branch

 Have you ever been completely over it?  If you have toddlers and preschoolers, you know you have those days.  The days where you hide in the bathroom just for 30 seconds of "alone time" even though they are sticking their little finger under the door.  Sometimes, it just feels like people need too much from us.   Matthew 14:13-14 says " Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities.  When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick." What had He heard about John?  In the previous verses we are told about John's beheading.  Jesus had just heard that His cousin, the one preparing the way for Him, had been murdered.  So what does He do?  He withdraws to mourn.  Talk about needing some "alone time".  Jesus was fully human as well as fully God, so you know that...

     I am doing a great study on the Psalms of Ascent this summer.  Today, we started looking at Psalm 131:        "O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;       Nor do I involve myself in great matters,       Or in things too difficult for me.       Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;       Like a weaned child rests against his mother,       My soul is like a weaned child within me.       O Israel, hope in the LORD       From this time forth and forever." David gives us a great picture of how our souls need to rest in the Lord.  It makes me think about a toddler going to sleep on his daddy's shoulder.  I am told that, as a toddler, I fought sleep like crazy.  Sometimes, I think I still do in this picture of David's.  I should be just resting against my Father's strong shoulder, but instead, I ...