Recreate to Reclaim

The months of June to September 2018 met me with a revival of heart as I heard answers to prayer, and as I delved deeper into the presence of God. (I have to pause and thank Dr. Faith Wokoma for her incredible teaching on prayer, fasting, and simply how to dig in deeply.) It had been a long time since I experienced rich, spiritual growth. Enter the last week of September. I felt like the high was gone. While I awakened between 5:00 and 6:00 in the morning to pray and write what the Lord put on my heart, and I continued to immerse myself with good teaching and read – my goodness so much reading – something was a little different.  As I was pondering this, I heard the Lord say, “It’s time to take a break so you can grow.” 

The morning of September 27, as we were preparing for the day, my husband asked me, “What does the word ‘recreation’ mean?” Naturally, I responded, “Relaxing.” Minutes later, while I was preparing to take my vitamins with 1/4 cup of coffee, he entered the kitchen and said again, “What does ‘recreation’ mean?” Before he could go on, I looked up realizing my initial answer was incorrect and said, “It means to recreate.” Then he shared with me a sermon given by author and teacher, John Bevere, who revealed that recreation means re-creation. 

When Bevere was in Bible college, he studied so much that when his friend asked him to play a game of touch football, he turned it down to study more. But as he read, he felt that God wasn’t speaking to him. Yet, the Lord led him to Ecclesiastes 12:12b, which reads, “Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body,” (NIV).  (see John Bevere – “Hungry for God,” at the 17-minute mark, at https://youtu.be/-3mXrsx0f30). 

God instituted rest in the part of His creation work, blessing it (Genesis 2:2-3). Jesus taught his disciples to rest, who it is, how to do it, and why we need it (Matthew 11:28 and Mark 6:31). And, Psalm 23, a favorite scripture of my dad – the only one I ever heard him recite – beautifully captures the essence of rest and how it reinvigorates us when we are made to lie in it.

After listening to Bevere’s sermon, Christian shared that he had felt led to share it with me. We listened together. Then he said, “It’s time for re-creation!” 

Christian also shared that he felt I needed to take a break. Him sharing this confirmed in my spirit the Lord saying to me earlier that morning, “Take a break so you can grow.”  

It’s time for re-creation!

A few hours later I received a text from my sister Maureen in which she shared a spiritual revelation based on her experience of having yielded to emergency flashing lights and not giving in to the impatient driver behind her. As I read her words, I realized I had to reclaim all that the Lord poured into me over the last 3 months, through re-creation.

Here is my sister’s insight (shared with permission) because it totally captures the essence of what I shared about my own:

“Don’t allow people (the noise, situations) to get you off focus especially when you ‘see’ something or even know something is heading your way. More specifically, don’t move because of someone else’s impulses, motives, ideals, etc. You know what you are seeing, you know what you saw, and you know what God has spoken to you about or is speaking to you about right now,” (text correspondence Sept 27, 2018, 9:08 AM).

I had allowed the “noise” of all my studying to cause a stuck-ness, that, like Bevere, I was seemingly no longer hearing, at least that is how it felt. Yet, I came to realize that I simply needed to stop, break, and reclaim. And above all, be patient with me!

Perhaps reclaiming the state you are meant to grow in, requires a re-creation. It is as simple as stopping, unplugging, sitting still… you get my point. During the recreation period you will begin to move, hear, and grow again.

“Sing to him a new song, play skillfully and shout for joy,” Psalm33:3

“For those who find me, find life and receive favor from the Lord,” Proverbs 8:35

Go now and recreate to reclaim!