When our deepest need is the presence of the Lord, revelations pt. III

This morning I awoke to this startling, somewhat haunting realization. I longed for, ached and desperately needed the presence of the Lord. My soul was in dire need. My heart longed for the One I loved, yet hadn’t felt in love with for days. I wanted to be in love again with the Lover of my soul. How did it get to be this way? When did things change? I remembered back to my last time of extended solitude time and deducted that last Monday, not this Monday on my Sabbath, was the last time I truly basked in the presence of the Lord. Sure I had experienced God throughout each day the last couple weeks, but when was the last time I rested there? When was the last time I had the fellowship and peace and rest my soul desperately longed for this morning?

God met me today in so many powerful ways. Words would only cheapen the experience, so I will only use a few.

He broke me, healed, and transformed me today. He is calling me, leading me further out with Him. He is taking me by the hand. I stand more in love with Him now than I was this morning.

To this I say Amen.

When our deepest need is the presence of the Lord.

This summer silence and solitude transformed my life. My heart was forever changed by encounters with Him and it ushered me into new depths of intimacy with the Lord. I desired for this sustaining times to continue as I entered ministry. Today, I was saddened that extended times of silence and solitude were no longer what they had once been. Today I decided to make adjustments. With all the realizations and revelations brought forth today, my soul longed to return back to these times, sacred moments, dwelling and communing with my Lord, my loving God.

:::

“These days, the pastoral/ministry role is much more complicated…. Such expectations generate many places of paradox that will respond to nothing less than the tough, resourceful, savvy, resilient soul that was so hard to coax out in the first place.

The only way to begin facing these challenges is to keep seeking tenaciously after God through spiritual disciplines that keep us grounded in the presence of God at the center of our being. Solitude and silence in particular enable us to experience a place of authenticity within and to invite God to meet us there.

In solitude we are rescued from relentless human striving to solve the challenges of ministry through intellectual achievements and hard work, so that we can experience the life of the Spirit guiding toward that true way that lies between one polarity and another. In silence we give up control and allow God to be God in our life rather than being a thought in our head or an illustration in a sermon. In that place of our seeking we listen for the still, small voice of God telling us who we really are and what is real from a spiritual point of view. Then we are not quite so enslaved by the demands and expectations of life in leadership."
- Ruth Haley Barton, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry

“The central question is, Are the leaders of the future
truly men and women of God,
people with an ardent desire to dwell in God’s presence,
to listen to God’s voice, to look at God’s beauty,
to touch God’s incarnate Word
and to taste fully God’s infinite goodness?

- Henri Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus