Author: Wick

Another aspect we’ve talked about this week – why we enjoy staying busy. Yesterday I brought up the fact that there are many ways to simply “be” in life, and we all have different paths in that regard. But one thing we all share, whether we enjoy it or not, is the need for silent time before God. That time that makes most of us accidentally fall asleep (which seems a lot more okay than we allow ourselves to think it is). No matter how we are wired, some sort of “silence” is good.

Sometimes we avoid that silence, because we’re afraid of what may happen during it. Left with only ourselves, and God, we actually have to think of our self. When we don’t try to fill the silence with prayers of some sort, when we embrace the silence and release our desire to control it – we may be confronted with those aspects of ourselves that we try and ignore. Those things about us we try to stay too busy to notice. Those parts of ourselves that we try and cover up.

These “dark emotions” (simply because they are generally kept hidden): anger, lust, greed, insecurity, pride, apathy, etc.

We are instructed, from a young age usually, to fight these. To pray with all we have, “God, take this from me.” But yesterday, in guided prayer, we were asked to name them in ourselves. To personify them. To notice them. To imagine God responding to that personified emotion. To seek what “good” might come from this aspect of ourselves we’ve denied most our lives.

I recommend this. Psycho-babble though it may sound – it offers to be an experience of God that can bring healing and purpose to an area of our lives that needs.

Reminded this week, that although there is value to finding our our strengths, the things we’re gifted at, etc. God can use our weaknesses, our broken areas, sometimes in even more powerful ways. Where we are weak, He is strong.

May we seek silence, and know that God is with us through the storm…

We are meeting with Mark Yaconelli for two days, along with all the national leaders of youth ministry in the Free Methodist Church. We are talking about the future God has in store for the Church, and for our church. How important we believe it is to connect the youth/young adults of today to a living experience of God, before they decide they’re not into “church” anymore. (sometimes by slow release, sometimes by a dramatic break) At the root of all of this, we find the care/experience of our own souls. So we are spending time thinking/turning towards God together. There are a group of about thirty of us. It’s refreshing. It’s encouraging. It’s vision-casting. It is rest.

We talked a lot yesterday about the importance of finding regular periods of rest in our lives. How, especially in ministry, it’s important for ourselves/families, but especially as those who lead. We need to be people who model “rest”. The world certainly won’t do it. I could go on a rant about how the world loves busy-ness, or how the Bible loves rest….but you get the picture.

So the question becomes, now that we know we NEED rest and need to model rest to the world, what is does that mean? Maybe not so obviously, it doesn’t mean that everyone just needs to take a nap in the middle of the day, although perhaps that’s what you need. I’m definitely not the napping type. So what does it mean for me?

I think fatherhood can be something that compounds our busy-ness if we allow it. I also think it can be one of the greatest gifts God has given to someone in need of rest. My children cause me to slow down. To turn off the tv. To play. To imagine. To create. To sing/dance. These things give me rest.

We took our kids with us to Hawaii for our “Wheel of Fortune” vacation last year. Some thought we were crazy. We had moments where perhaps we thought we were also. But during/after the experience, we realized how much they added to our trip. Without them, we would have felt pressure to “go out”, and “experience the island”, etc. That would have costed much time and money, and put stress on what was meant to be a vacation. Instead, we hung out. We played. We slowly traveled around a few beautiful places/neat things. We had permission to simply “be”.

So, especially during this time of Lent, what rest is God calling you to be more aware of/participate in your life? What activity/practice that adds stress to your day could you do without for a bit? What is something in your life that allows you to simply “be”? Find and do….or….not do….and may God meet you there.