Retreat.....Reflect.....Rest
As the heat of the day dispelled, I was planning on letting my creative juices flow and to take some time to myself to sit down, focus and put pen to paper for a new Blog, as well as some inspirations for a few new artworks. I was looking forward to coming home and settling in with a cuppa when a phone call during transit enacted a series of panicked emotions which began to erupt all over my carefully crafted plans for the afternoon!
I now had a major situation to deal with and it was one which threatened to cast a huge shadow over most of my activities in the lead up to Christmas. A long stretch of stress seemed to swell up underneath me like an earthquake. How in the world was I going to negotiate and navigate this situation? For a moment there I completely froze and then shook myself off and went into the familiar territory of advanced problem-solving mode.
Once I arrived home, I put the groceries away, still made my cuppa and sat defiantly in my comfy chair with a determination to salvage what I could of my previous plans for my afternoon. The problem with problems is that they are merciless in their attack! They want to consume all of you to the point that your body and your mind go into fight, flight or freeze mode. Mine is generally freeze mode and I am completely useless in this state of mind! I can’t think straight, let alone make important decisions and I find everyday tasks become near impossible as I feel so barricaded in by my emotions.
I’m glad I made that cuppa this afternoon because as I lifted the cup to take a sip I actually read, with my Spirit, the caption on the side of the cup. “Retreat, Reflect, Rest”. It hit me like a lightning bolt!! I know I couldn’t stay in the stress of the day’s event, so I made a conscious choice to RETREAT! I’d been wondering what to do as the weight of the problem seemed so enormous that I wasn’t sure I could Fight the negative backlash in my mind that came with it. Now I had a strategy straight from Holy Spirit. Mind you, I’ve had this mug for years and that slogan meant absolutely nothing to me until today.
RETREAT to me means a few things. It’s my conscious decision to actively withdraw from the present circumstance and to go ‘within,’ into my heart, into my soul and engage with God in my Spirit man. I am a temple of the Holy Spirit, God lives in me, so this is the safest place to Retreat to. Yes, God is in Heaven but in my Spirit I am there too! God has made us multidimensional, multi-realm beings like He is. I can be in the world but not of it, seated in Heavenly places whilst on earth, I’m a temple of the Holy Spirit but I’m also being built into a temple as a living stone, I am abiding in God whilst He is abiding in me. Awesome, Amazing, and totally Freeing!
I don’t need to beg, or cry or fret. I just need to Retreat into His presence. I go into Him. This place is the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven. It is a place of total Peace and Clear Skies. I was only speaking about this place yesterday to someone who was facing many trials and as is Holy Spirit’s way, He often tests us to see if we really believe what we are saying to others for ourselves.
So, I Retreated. I went on retreat from this world, from the stressful situation. I opted to go to where God is. God is Love, if I headed to this place of refuge within Him, I would experience all the Kingdom of Heaven promises of Love, Joy and Peace. I know I’m in this place when everything around me seems to subside. The emotions give way to calm, and I am peaceful, open and ready to interact with the Trinity. There are other specific ways to deal with these arising emotions, but this is for another post, another day.
Now comes the time for the next step in my Holy Spirit strategy. The need to REFLECT.
As I sat and engaged with Father God, I became aware that He already knew all about my situation. He’d gone ahead and prepared me this morning and I had no idea! I was prompted by the Holy Spirit this morning to study Isaiah 55: 8-12. I was meditating and reciting the first part of verse 12: “You will go out in Joy and be led forth in Peace.” How Thankful and Grateful I am that the Lord has gone ahead of me in this situation. His promise is exactly what the verse says! It meant something to me this morning, in another context but for this event, it means so much more. I can genuinely praise him in this circumstance because He knows what I need and instead of a long road of stress and pain, He is promising Joy and Peace. WOW!!
I was also thinking earlier today about the Lord’s great Compassion and Mercy for people. I felt like a toddler today as I tried, with all my might, to exercise the fruit of this compassion and mercy to those around me. I think I failed more than I succeeded but I am so thankful to the Father for laying the foundation today because I do need great compassion and mercy in my situation in order to overcome! I just know I have the supply I need and that the Lord poured it out for this very occasion. Hallelujah!
I took the time to Reflect and be thankful about the fact that in looking up Isaiah 55 this morning, I looked up Psalm 55 which I had yesterday. As I read it again this morning, I thought it certainly didn’t apply to me, until now! I was meditating on verse 22: “Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” How strong and steady is the Lord’s supply! I know now that this promise to me is that this impending earthquake in my heart will not shake me and He will sustain me throughout.
Again, as I Reflected on my day, I remembered driving and I was truly submitting all of me to the Lord in a particular area and I was repenting and resetting my heart. Basically, I was casting all my cares upon Him. I came to the point of totally resting in Him. This place of surrender comforts me now because I know that even if the enemy is involved in this situation; 1) He is defeated and 2) There is no door open in my life and my sins are forgiven, so there is no judgement to cling to. I am washed clean by the Blood of the Lamb. I am free of guilt or concern.
This brings me to the final strategy, REST:
To me, this has meant a total trust in the Love and manifold, manifest, Goodness of God. I am not capable of doing everything I should do or could do, nor do I always do the good things I want to do. So I can’t rely on my own goodness but I can rely on God’s! I have Blessing and Vindication from the Lord because of the Blood of Jesus. So all I need to do is Retreat, Reflect and Praise God for His Protection, Provision and Promises and then REST in His Goodness and Faithfulness.
It’s in resting that we also hear God’s strategies and His recommended movements. I get to be like Jesus; only doing what He sees the Father doing and only saying what He hears the Father saying.
Do I currently know the How, What or When of the deliverance of my situation? No!
But I DO know the WHO of the beginning, middle and end of my situation, His name is Jesus and He is Everything!
May you Retreat, Reflect and Rest in Him Today.
Much Love in Christ,
Merita xxx
PS: Little update on my situation. Before the day was over, the situation dispelled in a miraculous way! The earthquake of reactions didn’t happen, and God poured out His presence on other parties involved which resulted in actions and behaviours which were not in their earthly nature. I was astonished. His compassion and mercy flowed through others to me in the most amazing way!! I consider the entire day a miracle or is it a manifestation of the ‘Our Father’ prayer which says: “May Your Kingdom Come and Your Will be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven”. The people involved had Heavenly reactions; reactions I can only explain as a pure ‘God Intervention’. Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!