Rejuvenation, Rest, Refreshing, and Revelation in the
Presence of God
There are many Scriptures about these four topics that will be addressed
in this section and I encourage you to study them all. I do not want you to
view this book as an end-all with answers, but as a starting point for a
ministry grounded in seeking the Lord and abiding in Christ. O Lord, may that be the fruit of this book!
I started out learning that having passion and joy in the work of the
Lord was how the Lord intends for us. Even Paul said that He rejoiced in His
sufferings and Jesus endured the cross for the sake of the Joy that was set
before Him (salvation being offered for us)! Somewhere along the line, though,
I lost it.
The Lord directed me away from a ministry that He had placed me in for
several years and moved me to a place where I had a lot of challenges. I did
alright, but it was a challenging place and that is all that I will say. But
again in the course of time, the Lord moved me on. I was in Christian service
in another environment and had a hustle and bustle about my life. There was
college, ministry, work (my own business and working part time for others) and
internships. I got to the point where I was working at least 50 hour weeks, but
also having quite a few weeks of 70 hours of work and activities every week.
It was only a matter of time and
I was weakened, got sick, and even began to have anxiety attacks. I had to
learn the hard way to slow down, have balance (moderation) in all things, and
trust the Lord for whatever may appear to be coming up lacking. What I found in
my own experience, was that time in the Lord’s presence provided rejuvenation
and true rest that mere sleep or “couch time” could not.
I learned the value of sabbatical—a
principle that I heartily encourage you to begin working into your life now.
Jesus Himself took time to be alone with His Father—there were times the
Disciples were searching for Him or people were turned away because Jesus was
taking some time to block out everything else but His Father. I find that a
campout is often one of the best ways for me to truly have a Sabbatical. Take a
Bible, maybe some music and just spend a day (or a few days) with the Lord.
Turn off the cell phone (even better, don’t take it with you), no Facebook, no
emails, no business, no phone calls—all is
put on hold for time with your Father.
For this section, there are four R words that I want to draw out.
#1 In the Secret Place, in the
presence of God is true rejuvenation.
#2 In the Secret Place, in the
presence of is true Rest—Jesus said that all who were weary and heavy laden
should come unto Him and He would give them rest. O how comforting that is!
When I’m pressured and anxious, when I’m overwhelmed, that is the time to draw
away for some time alone with the Lord.
#3 In the Secret Place, in the
presence of God is true refreshing. Get your Bible and read Acts 3:19.
#4 In the Secret Place, in the
presence of God is revelation. In other words, there are times when the Holy
Spirit just makes a certain truth from the Word “click.” I’m not saying that
there is any such thing as “extra-biblical revelation,” however, I do believe
that time in the Secret Place is where God gives great nugget of wisdom and
food for our souls (case in point: Nehemiah, Moses, Daniel, David).
--taken from Advice for Young (and Old) Ministers by Ryan M Marks
