Recently, I went to spend a few days alone with the Lord, in the middle of nowhere and completely dis-connected. While the idea of it sounded great, I found that I was unprepared for what He would reveal. Now before I get too far into this, let me say that our ideas of time with God are often adjusted and built upon what we have heard from others and messages we’ve listened to. While both of these expressions are valid and need to be shared, they are only guidelines for what we may experience.
So here’s my word for your “alone” time with Father. Expect only what He wants… for you! I know that may sound trite, but it’s tougher than it sounds because we are shaped by the words that we hear and things we see, therefore we usually go into any situation with a predisposition as to what we believe will happen. For instance, when I went, I thought it would be a warm and fuzzy time, so when it turned out to be a time for surgery, I was shocked and wanted to run. Now, I knew I was supposed to be there, so I stuck it through the discomfort and it became a wonderful experience that I will NEVER forget. Discomfort is, after all, a time for Holy Spirit to shine since He is our comforter, right?
Although surgery is not fun during the procedure, it’s fruit is sweet when the healing has come. Remember that God’s Rhema is a two-edged sword or you could say two-edged scalpel. So as it cuts, and believe me it hurts, it also heals with the other edge. That’s so wonderful because when the Lord does the surgery, He never leaves gaps where infection will get in. He makes sure the area that He cut is sealed well, so it heals well.
So what was the outcome of my time you say? Well, it was what I needed and will become evident in the fruit of my life and my interaction with others, or at least it should. Anytime we spend time with the Father, it should adjust us and bring us to a new place of understanding and anointing. I think we need to approach every encounter as new and not expect the same thing every time. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes that “there is nothing new under the sun”, however that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing new to us!
While I completely agree there is nothing new, because God has done and said it all, there are so many things to be discovered BY us, that He has hidden FOR us! This is an exciting part of our journey of faith that requires true surrender and a giving over of our will to the one who has the Perfect Will for us. So my advice is take time, get alone, turn everything off and just be with Him. Make it a habit and it will become a coveted time where He repairs and reveals Himself in a way that will be new to you each time.