I’ve arrived! Each month, I really try to go on an overnight personal retreat to be with Jesus. Each year I try to do two longer retreats. Is it hard? Absolutely! I used to only do it a couple of times per year…until I started lead pastoring! Now I feel like I need it more often. There is a weight to pastoring and carrying the burdens of people. There is also a weight to being in an urban environment. Sometimes you don’t realize it until you step out of it for a little while! People often have misconceptions about being in ministry. I recently had someone comment that since I was a missionary, that I have more time to pray. On one hand I agree and am thankful! Be afraid of a pastor/leader in the body of Christ who doesn’t pray! On the other hand it’s not like that’s all I have to do, especially as a church planter. I am also the office administrator, one of the worship leaders (along with our main worship leader – my wife), the church financial person, a small group leader (currently I lead two), and I do anything else that needs doing! Don’t get me wrong, we have some wonderful people starting to step up and serve, but handing things off takes the right person and time to train them. So we are in process with a lot of these things. Hopefully I can pass a lot of those things off in the next year or so…
I also find that on a retreat I can pray about some of those nagging things that are important but get pushed aside in day to day life, and the answers seem to come quickly (Hallelujah)!
One of the reasons I take personal retreats is to be with Jesus and to focus. When I am in the thick of things, it’s very easy to let the urgent overtake the important. There are things I have set in place to fight this but I still fall prey at times. Some weeks go by and I feel like I have met with people (which I love), prepared to preach, and done lots of admin work but haven’t really connected in a deep fulfilling way with Jesus. I’m the type of person that needs to have some extended blocks of time with Jesus and if I don’t I start to get frazzled and a little grumpy (ask my wife). You may ask, doesn’t your study of the word for preaching count for that? Well, yes and no. I am studying to know God and in the process I learn things about Him I never knew, but I am also studying for a message need to deliver. I get to know Him better in the process, but there is still an aspect of work involved. What I am talking about is just being. I need to BE with God. I need to experience His love and love back on Him. I need time with Him where I am not preparing anything…
In Acts 6:4, this is just what the apostles say, “we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word.” The two go hand in hand, but sermon preparation doesn’t take the place of intimacy with God. More to come on this issue of calling I brought up from Acts 6…
I would recommend that EVERYONE take a personal retreat at least once per year for a minumum of three days. I often couple them with fasting. You may find you needed it more than you thought!
In the meantime, I’m going to go be with God…
What are your thoughts about this?
Kent – I’m totally with you! Last fall I felt the Lord speak to me: “I don’t want you to do more for me, I want you to be with me more.” So I have tried to abide by that, every morning spending a significant amount of time with God… in doing this I have found that there is nothing better in this world, nothing compares to simply being with Jesus and soaking in His presence…
Yeah, i can definitely relate. Even with my project and blog i feel that way. Between the two of them i often spend 2 –> 2 1/2 hours per day reading and writing about God and the Bible. I oftentimes feel like i’m just not spending the time with God, but rather doing a project / research / teaching prep. That time alone with God is time that i desperately need, but don’t feel like i have.
It’s funny because i never thought that after 2 1/2 hours daily i would still feel like i need more time with God.