A few weeks ago, I realized that I needed a timeout.  No… I wasn’t in trouble nor was I attempting to escape any responsibility.  I simply began to notice signs of burn-out in my life and ministry.  God graciously provided a tremendous place of solitude thanks to one of our church families.  I must say it was everything I expected and nothing that I expected all at the same time.

I am ashamed to admit that this was my first personal retreat like this as a pastor.  I began by emailing several of my mentors and close friends in ministry and asking for their wisdom on how best to arrange and structure the time.  I am thankful for this group of men whom God uses to encourage and challenge me.  I spent time each day reading Scripture, praying, reading Spiritual Leadership by Henry Blackaby and Grace Abounding by John Bunyan, and journaling many pages.

Here are some of the observations/lessons God illuminated for me…

• The enemy loves to isolate and separate
• Oh how I tend toward self-sufficiency
• I am too often satisfied with human efforts
• Distractions come in all shapes and sizes
• I spend too much time on outward attention rather than inward evaluation
• I am impatient
• I struggle with control
• Too often I become so consume with wasting time that I find myself stressing over it
• At any moment I am either becoming more like Christ or less like Him
• I focus too much energy on leading others rather than being led by the Holy Spirit
• I have fallen in a pattern of being satisfied with a “little bit” of God
• I “can do” many things but God has “called me” to preach and pray… if I fail in these areas, I fail as a pastor
• A deeper love for people is granted by the empowering of the Holy Spirit and nothing else
• Slow down… breathe… don’t rush…

God revealed many powerful verses from His Word this week, but here were the two that seared my heart…

“Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?  No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush.”  Jeremiah 6:15

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him…” 1 Chronicles 16:9a