Alone

Mar 6:45-52 ESV(45)  Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.
(46)  And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.
(47)  And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.
(48)  And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them,
(49)  but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out,
(50)  for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid."(51)  And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded,
(52)  for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

Jesus made his disciples leaves so that He could dismiss the crowd and be alone.  In reading scripture we can miss how often Jesus was alone.  This “being alone” was so that He could be with.  Being with the Father often requires that we are alone.  We all have a God given personality and we tend to view God though our personality.  It seems very natural to us that God would be like us that He would like what brings us joy and value what we value.  To many who value the energy, the warmth, the acceptance that comes from people, see isolation more like a personality disorder than a spiritual discipline. 

In verse 48 above we see that Jesus was going to leave His disciples in a struggling condition.  Jesus was going to leave them alone.  This seems so strange to many people as their view of God is the being who is never ending meeting the needs of humanity.  A common world view about God now has God existing to help humanity rather than having humanity exist to serve the Master.  

Whenever this imbalance gets to vast, the Lord simply removes Himself and seeks to pass us by.  God is not ashamed to leave us alone until we become desperate.  Not the desperation that exist because of our endless needs, desires, longings, wishes.  Desperate because we see that our life is ending, we have no hope in self and our ability.  Desperate to take off our demands toward God and simply seek that He come near.

In the last verse of this selected passage it is revealed that the heart of the disciples were hardened by not understanding what happened with the loaves at the feeding of the five thousand.  This is a great verse for us to meditate on.  How often do we misunderstand the activity of God and as a result have a heart hard toward Him?  Maybe we were embarrassed by what Jesus asked of us.  Maybe we were upset because Jesus did not do things our way and we felt rejection.  Possibly we simply got upset by His commands, by the feeling we are not being valued enough or respected. 

Both the absence of the Lord and His harsh treatment of us is an invitation to open the door of humility in our lives.  Look at the people Jesus healed, helped, touched in the Bible; not many of these were proud.  Maybe being at the point of losing our life will result in our crying out to Jesus to come to Him and save our lives.  Maybe it is better to get out of the boat based on humble desperation than bold proclamation.