Heyyyy Fam
Oh gosh, I love today’s post so let’s do it.
Came to me while listening to this amazing message by Apostle Joshua Selman sent to me by my squaddie turned friend Morenike, which incidentally I THINK was the last service for the year at Koinonia, his fellowship.
Please find it on YouTube.
Either the last or close to the last but it was preached end of November 2019.
I love love love that they close services for the year. I think it is easy for people to say “Oh why would you close church, how do you want people to cope, do you want people to backslide? ” and all that.
But the deal is, church takes a LOT to run and while some of us just walk in and sit our cute little bums, some others work SO HARD both before, during and after that they actually NEED that break as much as you THINK you need the church to run.
And asides giving church workers a breather, it also gives the preacher/pastor an opportunity to go away ALONE with Jesus for an extended and uninterrupted time frame.
Then it gives the members an opportunity to also find time to retreat alone, and see how well and deep their roots have grown. Has the church become a crutch that you really would lose your salvation if they went on a break? Does a church break mean a break from my faith? What if I lived in a country where I had no access or freedom to a church like we know it? Can I still connect VERY INTIMATELY with my Jesus without the church for 4weeks?
Those are searching questions and really we should CHASE THEM DOWN and see where those answers lead us to, then make changes as need be.
While these gatherings are important, they actually dont replace my private secret place with Jesus, instead they provide fuel and ginger for it.
We need both, and it is healthy to take a whole break even if the church doesn’t take one. Thankfully, we still have access to a world of resources still. Recall I already told you to PUT SOME PRESSURE to keep your fire burning this holiday ?
Ehen, this leads me to the reason I am doing this post.
Drawing from my above gist, as we end the year, many of us need to drop a few good things too. Like I say, for some of us, the problem is not SIN, it is the weights.
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,”
Hebrews 12:1 NKJV
We are weighed down by an insane portion of the good that we cannot focus on the few things that God has highlighted to us.
Then we find ourselves SO BUSY that we cannot even MAKE TIME TO SPEND WITH GOD both in our daily life and for an extended time in a retreat, no matter the form it takes for you.
Sweetheart, this is the time to cut back and drop some of the good stuff if they are not good for the season, so that you have room for God.
Let me share what this looks like for me practically.
‘Ok so I have a business, right? And it can be tempting to run my squads even through the holidays.
But I work SO HARD during the year that shutting down almost completely is the wise thing to do, even though I can choose to run, let my staff work and make extra money.
The only squad I will keep running is my PREGGO squad for obvious reasons. They cant pause their pregnancy lol.
The rest of the squads, we shut down 21st to resume after three weeks.
For my staff, they also shut down AND ACTUALLY DROP COMPANY DEVICES so there is no temptation to work.
I already have a plan to ensure that preggo coaching remains effective without stress for this season.
Now, money making aside, I have various ministerial expressions, most powered by WhatsApp. Again, what we do is pray, and stuff, so it can be tempting to keep it going cos its spiritual, but naynaynay, I’ve started shutting all of them down.
Even the WILD WOMEN which I THOUGHT would resume in December, I have seen the WISDOM in waiting until the New year to resume instead.
I’m freeing myself up to rest, recharge and be pumped for the coming DECADE of a YEAR.
If I belonged to some WhatsApp groups that still ran during the break, I would excuse myself, most likely, except I see a reason.
If I had events and stuff that still had ongoing meetings, I would also excuse myself.
If I had regular weekly or whatever commitments in whatever places, I would also excuse myself.
If I had friendship commitments that were good yes, but take up space in time, emotions and resources, I would be happy to take a break and resume in the New year.
Basically, whatever needs a break gets a break.
Simples.
Now I am not saying this is for EVERYBODY, some of us may not need this shedding, for whatever reason, but I am just giving PERMISSION to you if you have been feeling or GUILT TRIPPED into holding on tightly to every last commitment especially the spiritual ones, meanwhile all that your soul desperately needs is some time away and alone with Jesus and your family and loved ones
Girl, here is OUR permission
Take a WHOLE break from activities and make room for INTIMACY.
I mean, I could even choose to take a break from my unit in church or church in general without guilt, so far I am stewarding that time well.
I recall when I shut down the WILD WOMEN in July, while it was sudden and no one saw it coming and so most people were shocked, there was someone who said “How can she do that? What does she expect us to do?”
I laughed when I heard it. And the reason I have taken time to spell out above.
I am literally OBSESSED with this scripture in Gal 5:1
It is FOR FREEDOM that Christ set us free… infact I love the Message paraphrase
Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.
Galatians 5:1 MSG
While we dont use our liberty foolishly, we must avoid anything that keeps us in bondage cos Christ DIED to set us all free.
Like I said, I hope we receive this post with a mature heart. I am not asking you to be stupid and dishonorable with our commitments.
I just wanted to give anyone who needed this permission to BE FREE cos I sensed some of us do.
And if you need something to do with the freed up time, hey take a personal retreat
And me personally, I look forward to SLEEPING and not having to wake at odd hours as a result of time zone differences for work and spiritual disciplines lol.
But I should be able to blog still. I hope
Kisses
E’
PS
I apologise the post about my marriage journey didnt come up on Friday.
Did this post on my friend Moradeun instead. Wanted to honor her really even in death.
Good news is my team decided even better… They are coming up with interview questions for hubby and myself so you get an even better post. Yay. Watch out for it soon. No dates abeg.