“Yet Jesus himself frequently withdrew to the wilderness and prayed” (Luke 5:16, NET).

As a clinical educator in an academic setting, finding time to breathe is rare. Today was an amazing change from that. When I reached work today, I found no major administrative mandates and no patients to see. Almost in shock, I was able to file all my back journal articles and develop proposals for three research projects. I left work at day’s end missing my daily headache and making it home on time. It was a beautiful break from the patient care and teaching that I also love.

Most of us are overloaded in our healthcare practices and life in general. Whatever the description of our workdays, there are more than enough urgent responsibilities to fill up each sunrise to sunset. Catch up days at work are wonderful when they surprise us.

Some of us need to catch up our spiritual lives in the same way, for they often suffer from the same overloaded schedules. There always seem to be urgent responsibilities that fill up our time for God. As a result, our times of devotion, prayer and Bible study are often set aside. When this becomes habit, we lose touch with the Father and drift toward the world.

Perhaps it would be good for some of us to schedule a spiritual catch-up day, a time ahead where we block out two hours, or a day, or even more for Jesus. I have a physician friend who took a few weeks off and hiked the Camino de Santiago to become whole again spiritually.

In these catch-up times, we can escape our usual responsibilities with phones turned off. We can do so alone or with a friend or spouse. We can finally pray until the Holy Spirit no longer prompts us to pray. We can read our Bible until we feel saturated by His Word. We can finally sit still and listen.

I have learned in my married life that it is always better to schedule a weekly date night instead of hoping one will show up. But, when I fail to do so for a prolonged period, it is best to catch up with substantially more than one evening. It may well be good for some of us to schedule some extra time with the Lord in the same way.

Dear Father,

Let me continue to spend time devoted to you each day. And when I fail, please help me set aside the time to catch up.

Amen