One weekend, I led a retreat surrounded by the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains. ¹ The focus was our calling to be something incredibly different…people who actively follow Jesus’ New Command: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all will know you are my disciples…if…you love one another. ²

 

The title of the retreat was Dealing With Reality in a Sit-Com World. ³ We talked about how being a Christian is more than just knowing who Jesus is. It’s about applying His teachings to our own lives. It’s about loving Him by obeying His commands. ⁴ It’s about living and caring and loving as He did. It’s about following Him and walking as He walked. ⁵

 

Then we looked not at the make-believe world fed to us by television and movies where everything seems to work out in the end, but the real world where jobs are hard to find and keep,  people don’t have enough to eat and lay sick and dying, families are torn apart, where hate and arrogance rule. It’s sobering to come face to face with the real world, and think of what impact we, as Christians, could have in it.

 

Don’t just repeat words, obey them.

 

At every retreat and seminar I’ve lead, something unexpected happens. I am sure it’s because God is there, and while I may be the designated “leader”, He is certainly the One in control. Those unexpected somethings may not always be apparent to others, but God allows me to see, experience, and embrace them. This retreat was no different.

 

A man was asked to pray and as he bowed his head, he began his conversation with a truly earnest and heartfelt plea: Dear Lord, grant us the opportunity to love and encourage others so they may see Jesus in our lives and as we labor in our efforts, help us to rest in You. To rest in God. Those words had a significant appeal to me.

 

I enjoy speaking at such events because I get to share what God shares with me, but also because He uses these times to teach me even more. I went to that retreat to speak about God’s command that we love, comfort and strengthen each other. But I came back with a powerful, yet gentle, reminder.

 

Those who seek me will find me. ⁶

 

Even as we reach out to those around us, we must make time to be with God…where we can tell Him of our hopes, fears and struggles, where we can laugh and cry with Him, where He will comfort us with His love and peace, where He will assure that He is always with us, where He will give us rest in Him.

 

As I prepared this Note and, to be honest, for a long time, I have been tired to the point of exhaustion. Leading a ministry, even one based on “encourage one another”, can be very discouraging at times. It is not for the faint of heart. And where everything seems so important, rest is not on the agenda and it becomes amazingly easy not to make time to be with God.

 

That describes where I am, but it’s about to change. For the remainder of this year I will withdraw from my regular workload in Ciloa to spend time with God, telling Him what’s on my heart and listening to His, all while seeking to rest in Him. This will be difficult as I have never taken such a long time in my 40+ years of ministry work. Will Notes continue during this time? I’m not sure. I’ll leave that decision up to God…surely…hopefully…maybe. Yeah, keep me in your prayers.

 

Ciloa Forever!

 

Chuck

  

Chuck Graham is Founder and Executive Director of Ciloa, an international ministry devoted to encouraging others and teaching them how to encourage one another. He is also an author and speaker. Chuck and his wife, Beverly, live in Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA. Learn more about Chuck and Ciloa at www.Ciloa.org.

 

Footnotes: (1) The Great Smoky Mountains are located in the southeastern United States, stretching from parts of North Carolina into Tennessee. (2) Read John 13:34-35. (3) What I lack in content I make up for with cute titles. (4) Read Psalms 55:6. (4) Read John 14:23-24. (5) Read 1 John 2:3-6. (6) Read Proverbs 8:17b.

Pictures: Banner: Autumn in The Great Smoky Mountains, photo by Chuck Graham. (1) The Great Smoky Mountains, photo by Chuck Graham. (2) Chuck Graham, photo by Beverly Graham.