The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.”
Ps. 23:1-3
I have known the pain of burnout in ministry.
Twenty years ago, when we were serving in campus ministry, I was working part-time while being a full-time mom to two children. I was also homeschooling my school-age daughter with a toddler in tow.
Things were pretty simple at first, but it quickly mushroomed. (And the kids started growing up too!) I could not do it all, much as I tried. I kept powering through, but that resulted in not doing anything well.
I was trying to do spiritual work while living on spiritual starvation. I was not abiding in Christ but living off leftovers. My relationship with God was all academic, not personal. It was eventually reduced to just preparing for the next Bible study. I felt like such a fake. And sadly, my little ones bore the brunt of my snappishness and stress. I knew something needed to change before I scarred my children and did irrevocable damage—presumably for the name of Christ!
Do you relate? A common denominator for ministry leaders is a strong desire to love the Lord with our whole lives. Whether it be training up the next generation, discipling a younger believer, or leading Bible studies with seekers, we are living out God’s great story.
But many of us have gone through the struggles of juggling family and ministry. We have felt the pain of burnout. We have struggled with the jarring realization that who we are in public is not the same as who we are in private.
Thankfully, God used my husband to gently challenge my workaholic ways. He saw their effects on me and suggested the unthinkable: He invited me to consider going on a three-day retreat for leaders.
What?!?! I resisted at first but finally agreed because I had no better ideas. But it changed my life.
Three Benefits of Personal Retreat
From my very first retreat, I discovered three key benefits. The principles are found in Psalm 23, from which I learned to trust and follow my good Shepherd.
1. Going on retreat allows God to reorient me.
Sometimes the best thing God does for us is to show us our sin. In fact, if you find yourself feeling convicted and guilty, count it as one of God’s graces.
I believe that our passion for God grows in tandem with our awareness of our need for Him. That often comes only when we see ourselves as we truly are, in all our posing, greed, pride, and idolatry. Only then does the Gospel truly become good news.
Taking concentrated time to retreat with God reveals the truth of my heart and clears away the clutter that keeps us from appropriating the power of the Gospel and finding my deepest satisfaction in Him.
2. Going on retreat gives me God’s perspective by restoring my soul.
In his book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, Philip Keller describes how sheep reclining on a hill can sometimes roll onto their backs—and then get stuck there, feet flailing in the air. If the shepherd is not paying attention, this desperate situation can turn deadly.
Likewise, when I go on retreat, it is like letting the Good Shepherd “flip me back over.” After clearing away the gunk that blinds me, God then helps me to look afresh, evaluate, and remember what is most important in light of His great Story.
3. Going on retreat gives me space to let Him guide me in paths of righteousness.
I can have all the greatest intentions in the world but never get to them because I am always living on auto-pilot or high-alert mode. To think creatively and to craft plans requires time to pray, consider options, and get actionable details down on paper. It is time to connect the dots.
Making time to go on retreat helps me to forge a new path that I might not otherwise see or take.
Debunking the Myth
While it seems like resting in retreat is doing nothing, it is actually harder work If you’re like me. It takes work not to work, to resist this ingrained self-reliance we all have. It requires effort to still the monkeys in our minds, reminding ourselves of all that has yet to be done. It takes courage to be still before the God of the universe.
Paradoxically, I think the time we need a retreat the most is when we are the most overwhelmed. If we wait until we have the time, it might be too late; the damage is done.
Even better, be proactive. I like to plan these spaces to rest and retreat with God first, not last. I now plan regular blocks of time in the midst of my ministry responsibilities, giving me opportunities to press the reset button and to reorient with God so He can lead me in His paths of righteousness.
Then, when I do get back to work–because we eventually must!–I have discovered I work differently. I work more diligently and procrastinate less because I look forward to the next personal retreat that awaits me!
So, what might going on retreat do for your ministry?
Intentionally planned and regular retreats can give ministry, whether at home or otherwise, its vitality and freshness. If the heart is the wellspring of life (Prov. 4:23), retreats help guard, nurture, and fill it so you can serve out of a full reservoir, not a dry well. I work out of the overflow of my relationship with God, not trying to artificially add Him into my life with a token prayer.
If you want to lead with integrity–whether a parent at home or a pastor in a pulpit–going on retreat is vital, not optional. We who encourage others to follow Christ must do likewise. I kept up this practice, even when I was “just a mom,” so that I might lead my children well. Through it, God has shaped and equipped me to embark on our new season of ministry. He wastes nothing.
Let me be clear: going on retreat will not earn us salvation. That is legalism. Rather see it as an act of love, an expression of gratitude to our Savior and a desire to be shaped by Him for service.
Throughout the years, I have taught women the importance of abiding in Christ. It has become very important (and apparent) to make abiding in Christ a regular rhythm in my own life first. Taking time to pull back, slow down, and reflect allows space for Him to do the slow work of refining and polishing my heart.
Ultimately, this benefits those I serve. While going on retreat means that I don’t get other things done (practically speaking), it has changed me at the heart level so that I learned to recognize the more important and higher purposes within that work. When I returned from my retreat, I returned to my tasks with a different perspective. As I met with God, He began to change my heart to focus on the people He has given me to serve–from my children to my small group to my ministry–and to identify the ways I can help them grow in Christ. I learned how to serve better because my time with God helped me to see better.
There are so many other benefits when we carve out time to retreat with the Lord. We think we’re sacrificing so much, but in reality, we are the ones that are blessed by it. This counter-intuitive practice has changed and shaped my work and ministry. How might it enrich yours?