R.E.S.E.T

READ: 1 Kings 18 and 19; and Proverbs 3:5-6

Have you ever needed to hit the red reset button on a kitchen appliance or restart your computer because somehow it started freezing up, misfiring or simply just not functioning the way that it should?  I’ve heard it said that we are creatures of habit; however I’m not sure that the habits we often develop are the best ones to perpetuate.  If you’re like me we can get so rooted in routines and habits that we miss those moments where the Holy Spirit, is reaching, teaching and influencing.  I’m thankful for the reset button in life as it has allowed me to save money from let’s say purchasing new appliances and gadgets that I’d rather not have to replace. It has also, when I’m discerning the voice of God, allowed me to pull myself away and turn off the phone, turn off the TV, close the computer, put away the other entertainments and for a moment simply focus on hearing Him.

You and I as mothers, wives, ministers, friends, workers outside of the home, coaches, even retirees…need a time to RESET.  In the word RESET there is 1) REST: a pause and halting, 2) STEER: a time of direction and navigation and there is 3) TREES: a time to see God’s beauty, and to grow.  I’m not talking about forgetting all that you’ve ever done or learned as a Christian, but rather taking some time, not just a day but days or a season to RESET spiritually. 

We must take time to evaluate and examine our spiritual life.  Where are we on God’s plumb-line of holiness?  Are there any leaks, cracks or breaches in the foundation of your walk with Him that is slightly altering your thought process, or causing you to veer a little too far off the path of righteousness?  Are you confident that you’re doing all He has called you to do in this season of your life?

I’m a witness that we can be so busy taking care of others’ needs, personal needs/desires, shopping, running errands, traveling, vacationing, decorating, renovating, even going to church and doing religious things that we neglect our Spiritual needs.  Now before you close the blog without hearing the rest, if you know me well enough you know that I have no shame in telling the truth.  I can’t sugar this message…we need to hear truth. 

When was the last time either of you really heard from the Lord in the busyness of the day that you planned or thought you planned to the T?  Or better yet do you and I really know what it means to hear from Him? 

Elijah the Prophet was a man highly anointed of God; a man whom the Lord spoke to.  Despite all of his success in the Lord and the miracles performed during the time of his ministry, he found himself in a moment of despair all because of that wicked woman named Jezebel.  If he were still alive today he would be able to testify to the fact that he understands what it’s like to go through and to feel like your all alone.  He was so beside himself after hearing news of her death threat that  he traveled a days’ journey in the wilderness, supposedly to flee.    

To some it makes no sense for him to have been going through this yet to others we recognize that the Lord allows us to go through tests, trials, and persecutions for the purpose of our growth and to increase our faith.  Elijah the Prophet was in such distress that the Lord sent an angel to instruct him to eat and drink for the journey ahead of him was great.  What was that journey? It wasn’t just a time of traveling from Point A to Point B but rather it was a spiritual journey a time where the Lord was able to minister strength unto Elijah and to let him know that this thing was of the Lord’s performing.  He needed guidance from the Lord and for his eyes to be opened for him to see and know that there are still Saints of God who are standing for righteousness and who have not bowed their knee to the devil (1 Kings 19). 

My sister you need to know (and not fear) that there is a journey ahead of you that is very great and the only way you’re going to make it through and be sustained is by the help of the Lord.  I get it that none of us like to think about the fact that the Christian life is not a bed of tulips every day.  If any of us are going to have eternal life abiding in us through Christ we must embrace and accept the fact that there will be persecution.  There is a word from heaven (spiritual bread and drink) that the Lord has ordained to sustain you just like He did for Elijah the Prophet.  You must be put to the test and tried in the fire.  You must allow Him to prune away anything from your life that will hinder you from hearing Him. 

In Elijah’s seeking of the Lord while on Mt. Horeb, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice (1 Kings 19:11-12).

While his situation may be the extreme in comparison to what you face right now, I can assure you that you will experience a time when steeling away or resetting is like a 911 emergency that just can’t wait, not even for an answer from your pastor.  Suppose Elijah the Prophet had chosen to just deal with the situation with his own understanding and instead of going to the mountain just keep walking in the wilderness in hopes that it would help him to clear his head?  The outcome would’ve been different and he would have likely not gained the victory.  The Lord spoke in a still small voice, a voice that could have easily been overlooked.

You and I can’t escape nor avoid the labour of prayer.  What you need to hear from the Lord can’t be Googled. You can’t find it on Twitter feeds, Pinterest, Instagram, Snap Chat, Facebook nor any other kind of social media outlet unless that is the avenue the Lord chooses to answer you through after you’ve sought His counsel through prayer.  It’s found in the presence of the Lord.  That quality time you and I purposefully establish with the Lord where we have His undivided attention and He has our attention in the same.  In His presence there is no need for strobing lights, bells, whistles, flames, nor thundering and lightning. 

May I encourage you to seek out and plan for that time of RESET.  Be intentional about your time of REST.  Put away the things that aren’t needful that only drain the life of God from you.  Have an expectation that the Lord will STEER you in the direction you should take and instruct you on how you should spend your time.  He wants you to give yourself to the things that edify, the things where there are ministry opportunities for you to share the gospel with someone who needs direction and a word in season for their situation.

Let the Lord bring you to a large and expansive place, a place where the plains are leveled and the pastures are green and flourishing, a place of effectiveness, a place of RESET where He can:

Renew your mind for greater revelation…for

Excellence in servanthood…for

Sanctifying your life…for

Edification of the body, for work of the ministry, for the perfecting of the Saints…ultimately producing a

Transformation in you as a faithful woman of God. I’d love to hear from you on ways in which you plan to have RESET.

I’d love to hear from you on ways in which you plan to have RESET.