A time of healing and restoration.......

Good morning friends. Today's devotion is going to be a little different and a lot more personal. I announced to my church family yesterday that I was going to take 30 days away from my ministry duties at the church to focus on my family. Some may call it a sabbatical. It was a very emotional time for myself and others also. There is a very real problem in most churches. It is a problem that we don't often talk about and most don't catch it until it is too late. Our pastor cheat on their wives with the ministry. Then we say "I am doing good work to help others." or "God has called me into this ministry and everything will be ok." When the ministry becomes the other woman. This was a seminar class Misty and I went to at a conference. I went but, it didn't really sink in. As I write this today, my heart is very heavy because I know of my other pastor friends that are going through the same thing. Reality is that some don't catch it until it is too late and they end up losing everything. If you are reading this and are involved in your church, please help your pastor, other leadership, and teachers in the church. They worry so much about others that they forget about those closest to themselves.

The bottom line is that if our families in our churches are strong, our churches are strong. If our families in our church are struggling, our churches will be struggling. I told the church yesterday that somehow we get the order that God had intended for us all messed up. It should be God #1, Family #2, and Church #3. This is why I decided that I needed to step away from everything to focus on my family. I pray that everyone reading this understands how important the family must be. I thank God that He has opened my eyes to see the reality and importance of family. I have studied about time away and it is biblical. Let's look at some of the good stuff and see what God say's about the subject........  

Bible Verse: Leviticus 25:1-5 And the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land.

Ok, I know this is about the land but, I think it means so much more. Both the Israelites and the land benefited from the time of rest or sabbatical. In my reading I found the Hebrew word Shmita, the Sabbatical year, and it literally means "release". In other words, a Sabbatical is a scheduled time to release the ground from producing its normal crop, which would also relieve the worker from his or her seasonal work cycle. A time of healing and rest for both land and worker.

Then, In the New Testament we find Jesus breaking away from his ministry routine. Now, the scriptures don't say the length of Jesus' retreats but the word "often" in Luke 5:16 kind of gives us a clue into his strategy. The value of these "mini-retreats", maybe 2 to 3 days in the mountains, show his disciples the importance of recurring rest to revitalize self, and reconnect with God. In the book of Acts we find the apostle Peter on a personal retreat at a beach house next to the city of Joppa (Acts 10:6). I know these examples are to focus on rest and re-charging the batteries but, I believe they can be so much more too!

I will close with this. I saw in the eyes of so many youth yesterday morning, questions. So, last night I sat down with them to explain and then gave them a time to ask questions. It was a very emotional time but, a happy time also. After some tough questions were fielded. So many of them shared about our time together over the years or maybe months. It was so humbling to hear how God has changed so many of their lives! I am so very proud of them and before I left for my time away I gave them a charge. We are going through the book of romans. Chapter by chapter. I told them that I expected them to be studying and reading and working very hard while I was away. They all promised to be in God's Word and learning. If you are a youth leader that is serving with me and standing in the gap. I want you to know how grateful I am for you and how much I appreciate you. You guys are the backbone of the Potter's House Youth Ministry! Thank you for allowing God to use you in such a mighty and powerful way. I pray everyone reading this has a great and blessed day.