Tuesday 5 May 2009

Holidays or Retreat

The bank holiday provided a great time for us to get away as a family, take a break from the normal routines that plague daily life and just take some time out relaxing. But how often do holidays actually get in the way? I don't mean that I would rather not have a holiday, but continue to work, work, work! But how often does a break in the routine mean that EVERYTHING gets rested, even time with God?

By now I should be on day 5 of my walk through the Bible, but instead I’m on day 2. Why? Maybe it is just because I’m lazy, and rubbish at disciplining myself to spend the required time reading through the different chapters. Or maybe it is because I went on holiday and had a rest.

That leads me onto another question, what are quiet times? In one sense I feel more spiritually refreshed because of the time I spent on holiday than I think I would have if I had spent the weekend keeping up to date with my new reading plan. Whilst away Rachel and I were able to talk and discuss in ways that just wouldn't have the time if we were both at work, we were able to talk about questions such as Eden and what it was really like, explore how we both think prayer works, how we discern the way that God speaks, we were able to discuss tithing, and guidance and have a great discussion on whether all ministry should be Bible centred or not. Now some of these things are those big theological questions that although interesting are not crucial to developing a faith, but others were.

In the end I would have to surmise, that a break from the routine used wisely and not wasted away in lazy days, can actually have a great spiritual influence - so is this what they call a retreat then?