Time to Retreat?

Are you God?

No, I didn’t think so.

In his excellent book, The Imperfect Pastor, Zack Eswine highlights the need for those of us in pastoral ministry to remember this important fact. He stresses the need to be mindful of our humanity and to find joy in our limitations. However, we often kid ourselves into thinking we’re . . .

• Omnipresent – we seek to relate to everyone everywhere.

• Omnipotent – we seek to fix everyone’s problems.

• Omniscient – we give the impression we know everything.

Of course, we are none of these things—they’re characteristics attributed to God alone. But often, we forget our humanity and try to do too much, leaving ourselves burned out, frustrated, and exhausted. If this resonates with you, I encourage you to consider going on a retreat. As busy pastors and church planters, we’re accustomed to constant activity and may find it difficult to slow down. But I’m convinced life-long, fruitful ministry is marked by rhythms of retreat and soul-care.

Recently, I’ve been reflecting on how God responds to Elijah’s frailty in 1 Kings 19. (Do turn to the passage if you can.) After Elijah has experienced God’s extraordinary power, he’s threatened by Jezebel and runs for his life. God meets him in the wilderness and cares for him through his distress.

Here are four takeaways from Elijah’s story to help shape our soul-care rhythms.

PASTOR, YOU ARE A PHYSICAL BEING

How well do you take care of your body? As Elijah heads to the wilderness, the Lord (as he always does) kindly provides what is needed. At this point, Elijah’s needs are very basic—sleep and food. Nourishment and a nap. Sometimes the best, most godly thing you can do is rest.

The nineteenth century minister Robert Murray McCheyne famously said, ‘God gave me a message to deliver and a horse to ride. Alas, I have killed the horse and now I cannot deliver the message.’ His hard work didn’t make him better or more productive, it short-circuited his ministry.

We would do well to hear the wisdom in his words.

PASTOR, YOU ARE AN EMOTIONAL BEING

I love the way God deals with Elijah on the mountain. We’ve already seen his kindness, tending to his physical needs, but did you notice God’s patience with Elijah? Elijah vents to God; he’s poured himself out in service to the Lord, but what does he have to show for it? Rather than respond in kind, God listens. He gives Elijah the space to express himself and then gently answers.

You may find it difficult to express honest emotions to God, but the Bible is full of resources to help. The Psalms are a great example. As St. Athanasius once wrote, ‘All Scripture speaks to us, whereas the Psalms speak for us.’ We have been given words from God to speak to God. He knows our emotions and can handle them, as we see clearly displayed in Elijah’s story.

PASTOR, YOU ARE A RELATIONAL BEING

One of Elijah’s frustrations is that he feels alone. Earlier, he tells God that the Israelites ‘have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too’ (1 Kings 19.10). Many church planters I speak to feel isolated and lonely. Some are starting new churches in unreached territories where isolation is natural, while others are just too busy (or perhaps too guarded) to form friendships.

God doesn’t call us to live the Christian life on our own. The apostle Paul’s letters are full of lists of co-labourers—real people—who ministered alongside Paul and others. Although Elijah felt alone, the Lord assured him that he wasn’t.

PASTOR, YOU ARE A SPIRITUAL BEING

As Christians, God’s presence is our greatest blessing and our greatest need. In Elijah’s story, we’ve seen God’s kindness in providing physically, emotionally, and relationally. However, the main event takes place when God speaks directly to Elijah in the ‘still, small voice’. Some translations use the phrase ‘gentle whisper’. There is something in this phrase that communicates God’s tender care for his brokenhearted prophet. Afterwards, Elijah continues to vent. He’s not finished expressing his pain, but God waits patiently for him. And then he speaks. He sends him out on mission.

What has happened here?

Elijah has taken time out to seek the Lord. He has poured out his worries, his fear, even his anger. The Lord has met him in a small voice, calling him, and strengthening him for the path ahead.

What a retreat!

And how critical it was to Elijah in preparing him for further obedience. I believe we should take note and follow in his footsteps. Taking time and space to slow down, pause, pray, reflect, listen, consider, and repent in an unhurried and guilt-free way can be transformative. It ought to be a discipline we build into our daily, monthly, and yearly rhythms of life.

Being honest about our humanity and prioritising retreat is, in one sense, a sign of weakness. But in God’s kingdom, that is a good thing, as the apostle Paul reminds us.

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

1 Cor 12.9b-10

If you haven’t already opened the Bible to the passage in Kings, may I encourage you to do so now? As you read, ask the Lord to speak to you as he spoke to Elijah. Take time, perhaps, to ask one of the following questions.

• Lord, do I need to go on a retreat?

• Lord, as I think of my own soul-care rhythms, what do I need to learn?

May the Lord bless you and keep you as you seek to serve your Lord and Saviour.

To him be the glory.

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*For the purpose of this post we have used the word ‘pastor’. However, this post is for all those in leadership, whatever their formal title.