It was my very first solo ministry session. I had interned with a ministry praying for people and completing courses and requirements for almost 2 years, but I had never led a prayer session-nor did I particularly want to! It was however part of what was required to graduate the program. The warning of Jeremiah in chapter 29 to the prophets always weighs heavily on me before I speak to anyone in Jesus’ name.
I was full of anxiety. I needed to review all my course material; everything I had been taught before this appointment! Maybe I needed to re-read some books! I wasn’t ready and wanted to skip the whole thing.
“What are you saying Jesus? Help me out here!”
“Go to the beach” was His response.
Great, I thought, Jesus always meets me at this one stretch of sand and I assumed I would receive something really riveting here; maybe the perfect verse or direction for the session.
Going to the beach with me is always an event. I am an overpacker for every situation and the beach is no different.
As I went to gather my million belongings I will need for a day at the beach, Jesus whispered “just a towel, leave the rest”
Ugh this is already not off to a great start I whined.
Let me pause to let you know that I believe deeply that living from a place of rest in Jesus and His ability and power in us is the only way to function! I don’t blame you if you don’t believe me based on this story, but I’ve come to understand that once the Lord gives us a truth He’d like to become our belief system, it is sometimes a process to allow the conscious to invade our subconscious, and repeated encounters with the Living God is required before the truth fully translates to changed living.
As I pulled up to my favorite boardwalk and marched onto the beach full of expectation for some deep insight, I was surprised to see a thick fog had obscured the entire coast and I had a hard time making my way down to the water. Barely able to see, I was astonished at the Lord’s next and only instruction: “Lay down on your towel and try to sleep.” The story of Jesus in the boat sleeping during a storm came to mind and I instantly understood what He was trying to get me to do. Jesus lived His life expecting His father to give Him what He needed in every situation. John 5:19 gives us a little peek into how this kind of thinking affected His actions.
“So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”
Jesus was totally reliant on the Father for His every move and He expected every need to be met; He lived in the rest that comes from trust, and this is how He was able to ignore the storm and sleep.
I pushed down panic and reminded myself that praying for someone was much less dramatic than being on a boat in a storm, so if Jesus rested then, I could probably try now.
2 hours later, I trudged back to my car feeling deeply rested and humbled. Little did I know, I was about to be called on by a friend who needed help and I’d spend the rest of my time before my appointment driving through the night for my friend’s emergency. I’d show up to minister the next day with no rest at all unless I had obeyed at the beach, and I would be too tired to try to rely on myself or my training. I’d hold my hand and my heart open waiting for Him to fill it and I’d take another step into comprehending the truth of Ephesians 3:20 that reminds us it’s about Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to His power at work within us.
The appointment was otherwise unremarkable, as so many small things the Lord asks us to do are. He never wastes an opportunity to illustrate the lessons He’s teaching us by having us live them out. As I interacted with the reality of what rest looks like in my life, I retained a valuable lesson that I now go back to every time someone books a session with me for prayer.
I am no longer concerned if I can’t see a clear picture of the session beforehand; I remember the thick fog on the beach that obscured my vista, and I lay down and try to rest. I no longer intend to bring a million things with me by trying to review everything I’ve ever learned beforehand, I remember my one towel and how it was enough.
I’m able now to turn my focus away from what I need and instead trust that every need I ever have will be supplied.
I hope you that as you read my little story of a heart being re-tuned to sing His Grace, the Lord brings to your mind some truths that you also know but aren’t fully walking in yet, and you’re encouraged to participate with the Lord in your own new layer of fully walking out what that looks like in your own life as we grow together in our journey of becoming whole.
Comments
One response
Hi, this is a comment.
To get started with moderating, editing, and deleting comments, please visit the Comments screen in the dashboard.
Commenter avatars come from Gravatar.