Renew

Good evening,

As many of you are aware, I am getting ready to go on a short 6-week renewal leave and will be out of the office from July 25th to September 5th. On this leave I will spend some important time with my family, take a vacation, and reconnect with spiritual disciplines that have become neglected over time, and enter into a silent retreat. The dictionary says the word renew "implies a restoration of what had become faded." There are times in our lives where the habits that are most life-giving (daily devotions, Scripture reading, prayer, etc.) become faded and we need to retreat in order to renew.

In my devotion for today, from the book When You Pray by Rueben P. Job, I read these affirming words as I get ready to enter my time of renewal:

Returning from the mission up on which Jesus had sent them, the disciples were filled with a success story that would make anyone proud and pleased. They poured out their story to Jesus and while he recognized their elation he also recognized their exhaustion and said, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while" (Mark 6:31). We have all experienced the emotional, physical, and spiritual exhaustion that follows an intense giving of ourselves to a cause greater than we are. Left unattended this exhaustion can be extremely debilitating. So Jesus immediately took the disciples on a retreat. Their boat trip to the place of solitude was a necessary, healing, and life-giving move on the part of Jesus. But once there the compassion of Jesus led him to respond to the needs of the gathered crowd and for the moment to forget the weariness that he and his disciples were carrying. And once again he was teaching and healing as he asked the disciples to give the crowd something to eat.

Prayer, compassion, and the needs of the world are always woven into any faithful life of discipleship. If we are wise we will weave them into a beautiful way of living that brings healing and hope to the world and fulfillment, joy, and peace to ourselves. At this point a word of caution is in order. Jesus had the wisdom to know when time apart was essential and when it was wise to once again engage in ministry. He was clear about resources and about limits. Once again, this is where we as followers must seek and follow the leading and direction that God seeks to bestow.

As I take time to renew, I pray that you find time to renew as well. That you see opportunities in your day as moments in which God is calling you to come by His side and find rest and renewal in Him. I look forward to sharing with you again in 6 weeks.

God of restoration and life, renew my spirit. Renew my mind. Make smooth the path before me so that I may not stumble and fall. Come by my side, O God, that I may find rest and renewal in You. In Jesus' holy name I pray. Amen.