“Meanwhile, the apostles gathered around Jesus and brought Him news of all they had done and taught. And He said to them, “Come with Me privately to a solitary place, and let us rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.” Mark 6:30-31

Doing ministry is a great privilege and a gift from God. The feeling when God uses you–as an instrument to serve in someone else’s life, to share a word of encouragement, to answer questions about faith, to share the Gospel, to practically solve a problem for someone–it always feels great. It’s like God delegated something to you, trusted you with doing a task, and you did it. But often we can forget to rest and allow God to serve us, to spend time with Him in solitude, and enjoy Him. 

When the situation is difficult around you, and there is always a need, you can feel like there is no time to rest. But that is exactly what Jesus told His apostles to do after intensive time of doing ministry (Mark 6:30-31). And this is okay; that’s how God designed us to be. 

As the famous French composer, Claude Debussy, said: “The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.” Silence is what gives melody to the sounds. Otherwise, it would be a monotonous sound, which wouldn’t be music. We are made to work in rhythms.

And this was the theme of our retreat – How to rest. We studied the story of Elijah, described in 1 Kings 18:20-19:18, as well as the book, SoulShaping (Second Edition): From Soul Neglect to Spiritual Vitality, written by Douglas J. Rumford, and learned about the importance of rest, consequences of neglecting our souls, and how to rest and restore from a burnout. We’ve been guided through this process by a speaker from Latvia, which has been great!

One might think that a person who is outside of the ministry context of Ukraine shouldn’t tell us how to rest, but in reality it is a valuable gift. When someone from outside comes into your context, you have an amazing opportunity to learn something new and unexpected about yourself, what you are doing well, and what not. But to use this opportunity well, you need to have a humble and meek heart, as you need to acknowledge that you need help and you don’t know everything. This happened to our team.

At the moment, living in Ukraine is like living in a neighborhood where there is always something on fire. Naturally, when there is a fire, firemen are wanted. Not only wanted, they are liked by people, since they help solve immediate problems. And we as Christians need to be firemen; this is what Jesus did. But he didn’t do it always…

“Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray. Simon and his companions went to look for Him, and when they found Him, they said, “Everyone is looking for You! But Jesus answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns so I can preach there as well, for that is why I have come.” So He went throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.” Mark 1:35-39

When Peter came to Jesus with the other disciples while He was praying to His Father, and told Him that people were looking for Him so that He could heal and deliver them, Jesus responded very unfiremanly. He said that He needs to move to other places to preach the Gospel.

This was very unexpected and not what everyone wanted to hear Jesus say and do, including His disciples. But Jesus was willing to subvert expectations and not do what others wanted because He knew, and still knows, His calling! He is not a fireman, not primarily, but He is a builder. A fireman’s job is to help others stay alive, but a builder’s job is to help others live better. That is what Jesus wants us to do–to move from the mentality of firemen, to the mentality of builders.

Builders still do the job of firemen, but their mission is not only to solve immediate problems, but to create something new and better. Builders have a drawing of a building that they need to build, and this process takes time; much more time that putting out the fire. Others can complain at builders because the results of their work are not obvious at first, but when builders finish their job, something new and better is created. And this is what we are called to do as God’s children, the residents of His Kingdom.

We need to take God’s heavenly drawings and implement them here on earth. And this is what our team realized we started to forget; to think long-term, to think strategically, to do something new, bold, and creative, to be ready to be misunderstood and not liked by everyone, but to do God’s job.

Firemen are always liked, builders are not. Firemen are always praised, builders are not. And when everyone likes and praises you, there is always a temptation to become prideful. Probably that was the lesson Jesus wanted to teach His disciples–that their job is not to be liked by everyone, but to do the will of God, regardless of how others react. And this is because doing the will of God is better for everyone, even though not everyone understands it initially, and thus does not like those who do what God tells them to do.

So having rested, spent time together with God and each other, our team is ready to build something new, brave, and creative, something that brings the Kingdom of Heaven closer to students studying in Ukraine, something that saves their souls and changes their lives for the better.

Help us tell the story of how you used your adventure activity for Global Youth!
Share a Google Review.

#PrayGoRepeat | #PrayPedalRepeat | #EndsAdventures | #PrayServeRepeat | #PrayTrekRepeat | #PrayNeighRepeat | #PrayCastRepeat