John 4: 8
“(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)”
If you have ever been in a play or worked in theater, you know the meaning of the phrase, “stage right.” It refers to the stage area to the right of the stage as seen from the audience’s point of view. To “exit stage right” is to leave the stage from that side.
In this scene the disciples “exit stage right” as it were, and allow Jesus a rare moment to be alone. Sitting there by himself, at Jacob’s well, he is joined by a woman who comes alone to get water but this scene couldn’t have happened unless the disciples had been absent.
The task the disciples were on served the purpose of getting food, but also served the purpose of getting them out of the way for a few minutes.
Q: How should the disciples feel about being asked to “exit stage right” for a little while? Does God ever ask us to step back so something else can happen?
Easy to recognize, hard to do.
There was nothing preventing Jesus disciples from having their own ‘divine’ encounter while off getting the food.
Jesus used his free time to engage. The disciples used their time to only focus on the task.
Yes, on a number of occasions the Lord has told me “I got this Ron” and I have learned to immediately step aside.
These have been wonderful experiences. I realize Gods involvement in my every move. and God has allowed me to “remain in the room” as He has taken perfect control of the situation, used me to speak his words and in many occasions given eternal life to people.
It is training, I have always been included, enjoyed being a third party :
“an instrument of God” watching The Holy Spirit at work, and my goal is to seek His involvement in all I do.
So if Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, I need to exit stage right…that sounds pretty awesome!
In slight contrast to Nathan’s response, I feel so anixous to serve the Lord, I don’t always recognize when I should to taking a backseat while God works. I think that why it’s important to do everything in prayer so that I can be content with any situation.
Stay cool today guys
He must increase and I must decrease. It is hard to decrease. But even as He has us take a seat, He is still working. The disciples needed to leave to see the town they did not reach out to come to Jesus. This was a great teaching time and an opportunity for them to see others from His point of view. He may do things like that with us more than we might realize.
Not sure how they would feel but I know I would feel soo much better with a full belly,..so if Jesus told me to go to town and buy some food,..I would and I would feel good about doing what He has asked me to do,..whether I knew the purpose or not,..
We are to plant the seeds and then step back and let God to the rest,.. I have scattered so many seeds that I think I might change my name to Johnny Scatter Seed,..
Could it be possible for us to step back and let the Holy Spirit work through us? I ask because I find myself doing acts of kindness that I would have never done.