Our church hosted a conference that set up five 15 hour days for me right in a row. That week ended with me attending a Creative Church Conference that I really felt would be the thing to rejuvenate me from the big work load I had just finished. Only, I found myself almost feeling depressed at the conference. I can't explain it except to say that I just felt emptied out. Then I caught what I think was the flu (my daughter had it terrible) and wound up in the bed. Isn't it funny that God can use awful things like the flu to help us slow down and be forced to take care of ourselves for a little while. And while I was on my back, doing lots of sleeping, I felt the still small voice of the Lord doing lots of speaking to my soul. I had put together a lot of great work for a lot of people, but I had done most of it under my own strength. I felt the Lord was calling me to an adjustment of my priorities after this long run of churning out the work. So, I started on my second day at home in the bed by tapping back into my Power Source - God's Word. I made a list of everything that I had stopped doing that I was doing before this really busy time hit.. I was sure that just getting back to all my stuff would get me rolling again and feeling like myself, but the Lord just said "Wait". I felt like He wanted some of my creative outlets to be on hold. And I know it is because I had gotten out of sorts in a way. I couldn't put my family and all my responsibility on hold. I couldn't put my job responsibilities on hold. But I did feel that Christ was calling me back to order. Him first. He provides the energy. He makes the way. He lengthens the time. He creates the ideas and gifts them to me. And He was calling me back to sit and listen.
I have to be honest, I struggle with sitting still and being quiet. I know, this is not a big revelation for those of you that know me well, and obviously not for the Lord either. But I didn't really need a day at the spa. I didn't really need to get inspiration from an amazing conference. I needed to sit at the feet of my Father, tap into the power that raised His Son from the dead, listen and be filled. And it's funny, work didn't suffer, family didn't suffer. I didn't lose my creative edge from being quiet and waiting. What I found was what I went to that conference seeking - a resurgence God's power...the one Paul speaks of in Ephesians 1:17-19, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know Him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised him from the dead and seated Him at the right hand in heaven."
If you serve in a creative field or even just read this blog, this is my prayer for you. When we run out of ideas, find ourselves exhausted and empty, we can be like Elijah in the Old Testament after the victory at Mt. Carmel. We can sit down and talk to the Lord. He told Elijah to eat and sleep. And when we was rested, the Lord told him to get up and run. There was more work to do. It is just so much easier when we use His unlimited power instead of our feeble attempts.
I have to be honest, I struggle with sitting still and being quiet. I know, this is not a big revelation for those of you that know me well, and obviously not for the Lord either. But I didn't really need a day at the spa. I didn't really need to get inspiration from an amazing conference. I needed to sit at the feet of my Father, tap into the power that raised His Son from the dead, listen and be filled. And it's funny, work didn't suffer, family didn't suffer. I didn't lose my creative edge from being quiet and waiting. What I found was what I went to that conference seeking - a resurgence God's power...the one Paul speaks of in Ephesians 1:17-19, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know Him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised him from the dead and seated Him at the right hand in heaven."If you serve in a creative field or even just read this blog, this is my prayer for you. When we run out of ideas, find ourselves exhausted and empty, we can be like Elijah in the Old Testament after the victory at Mt. Carmel. We can sit down and talk to the Lord. He told Elijah to eat and sleep. And when we was rested, the Lord told him to get up and run. There was more work to do. It is just so much easier when we use His unlimited power instead of our feeble attempts.
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