The deadline for my devotions came up right in the middle of a busy time. Between school things and kid activities and work responsibilities, I had overcommitted myself. To add to that, as far as First World problems go, my phone battery died. I was a little panicked because I had people to call and e-mails to check and texts to send. But instead of a useful tool, about the only thing my phone could do at that point was to serve as a paperweight.

The Holy Spirit then tapped me on the shoulder (figuratively, of course) to remind me that I’m an awful lot like that phone. I was using up all my energy and forgetting to plug back in. Without recharging, I wouldn’t be useful to anyone.

It’s not that busy is bad. But busy all the time is. Jesus knew what it was like to be busy. After all, he showed up in lonely places and crowds of thousands would follow him, wanting to listen to him, to be healed by him, to be forgiven by him. He could easily have gotten tapped out, but he made it a habit to recharge: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35).

Today, make it a point to find just a few moments of solitary time. Pray. Plug in. Recharge.