“You turned my wailing into dancing,
                       You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
                                   that my heart may sing to you, and not be silent.
                                            O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.”    (Psalm 30:11-12)
 
What do you think of when you hear the word, “Monastery?”    I just spent 5 days at the Living Stone Monastery in northern Virginia.   It was amazing .    I was rather expecting a bunch of old guys quietly hanging out, maybe wearing robes and stuff, carrying around candles and wooden crosses.   Not that I would have minded that, but I was surprised that almost everyone there was under 30, carrying around a contagious hunger and fire for God.    It was an amazing place to have an encounter with our Lord  in a prayer retreat setting.  My heart is singing and giving thanks for the experience and the renewal God brought.

It was raining when I arrived, and as I unpacked my bags I prayed for God to unpack me and bring a deeper, renewed sense of His Kingdom reign in my heart.   Rain of renewal.  He answered the prayer in profound ways.  

In service and ministry and in relationships, we sometimes stuff our packs with hurt, pain, and emotional fatigue----not only our own stuff but also the luggage of people we care about.  I love the story of Saul’s initiation into God’s anointed calling for him.   He must have been hiding fears, maybe even hiding some poverty of heart and spirit.   When the time came for him to step into his new role as king, the Bible says that God revealed, “….he has hidden himself among the baggage"  (1 Sam 10:18).  That’s a bit funny when you think about it, but not for Saul.

That reminds me of picking up Kristi’s mom and dad at the airport recently.  Their luggage actually arrived on an earlier plane.   We found their baggage waiting for them.  Have you ever discovered on your journey that there is baggage waiting for you?   Not only does our stuff catch up with us, sometimes it waits ahead for us.   

One of the reasons I knew I needed to spend some time at the monastery was to insure that there is no baggage waiting for me ahead.  The baggage Saul hid in wasn’t just his own, it was the baggage of other people.   I don’t want to hide with anything packed away, not my stuff or anybody else’s.    One of the most significant things that happed during my prayer retreat was that God dealt with me on issues of hurt, fear, and anxiety so I can step forward into the next season with no cargo.  Thank you, Lord.

Are you anxious about anything?   Worried?  Hurting?   Mad?  Are you nervous about something God is calling you to?  Don’t hide in any baggage.  Stuff catches up with us.   Sometimes we find our stuff waiting for us down the road.    May I encourage you to deal with it---with God?  God Diehled with meJ.   

On the last day of my retreat, the morning of the 31st, I read Psalm 31:8----- “You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a SPACIOUS PLACE.  That was an amazing God incident for me.   Several months ago, God spoke to Kristi and me using the words of  2 Samuel 22:20 ------ “He brought me out into a spacious place…..”   Then at the noon prayer gathering one of the monastery workers read those same verses.   It was a profound Word that I received from God’s heart to mine.     We are very excited about the expanded, spacious nature of the ministry ahead of us, new horizons.     After an incredible time with God in a deliberate place “away,” He flooded me with grace and mercy, my confidence in Christ assured and my hope restored.   

May He be your Hope and may He expand your horizons to make a kingdom impact with Him, for Him, and to His glory!  May your heart be a spacious place for the fullness of His grace in you, the fullness of Christ, the hope of glory.    May your heart sing and not be silent!