“You have made know to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11).
One day while on a flight home, I shared The Four Spiritual Laws with a young businessman. He told me that he was a Buddhist and began to ask me questions like, “Have you found happiness?” and “When do you experience the deepest happiness?” With deep conviction I was able to tell him that I had indeed found happiness and I experienced the deepest satisfaction and joy during the time I spent alone with God.
Spending time with God gives us the opportunity to experience God’s love permeating through every cell in our bodies. When we sit or walk alone with Him, away from distractions, He ministers to us. Our hearts can, and do, respond in return, with love for Him. If we don’t take time to allow God to minister to us, our Christianity becomes legalistic and shallow. Our ministry becomes a drag, a duty we come to resent.
I talked to a woman a few years ago who was having a tremendous ministry but wasn’t happy. She seemed to be driven. She wasn’t resting in the Lord. She was getting up in the middle of the night to intercede for her disciples, but she was not taking the time to allow God to fill her inner needs. Not long after I talked with her, she decided to leave her ministry.
I believe the reason some people burn out and leave full-time ministry is simply because they are not taking enough time to relax and enjoy the Lord. They have forgotten that God loves them and that they have been created to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. Are you taking the time to experience God’s love in your life?
O God, show us how to enjoy You. Cause us to believe that You delight in our fellowship and desire to give us rest. Amen.
That's why Pope John Paul II said, "Our Theologians (anyone for that matter) talk so much about God, but I doubt how much they talk with God?" that's the reason for all the so called spiritual dryness.
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