For a number of years I’ve prioritised times in my diary to ‘retreat’ and they have been so life giving to my journey. The word retreat suggests ‘pulling away from the action’ – and because I’m naturally an activist, I often find my retreats challenged by the overwhelming needs of a busy ‘frontline’ – but I’ve pushed through and stuck with this discipline for over many years.

Past generations often embraced disciplines that created time and space with God, reserving space in their daily rhythms which were often referred to as a ‘quiet time’. Then came along a revelation that we can engage in conversation with God anytime, including our daily commute, our visits to the gym or whilst sat at our work desk. Of course God is continuously with us and is always up for a conversation – but I believe He really desires some intentional space in order for the encounter to be deep and intimate. So as well as weaving a continuous conversation with the Holy Spirit throughout our day and benefiting from a daily ‘quiet time’, I believe our walk with Jesus will be all the more richer by adding in occasional retreats throughout the year – times when we are not multi-tasking, but intentionally leaning in to Him.

So here are 3 reasons why I retreat:

1. To Remember 

We all struggle remembering the good things and find it difficult forgetting the bad – the ‘bad’ just seems to use stronger sticky glue eh? When I retreat, the Holy Spirit helps me order my memories and brings me to a place of renewing my understanding of who I am and the story He has invited me into. He helps me process the negative and remind me of my first love, my calling, the promises and prophetic words He’s given me. He helps me remember my priorities and my ‘why’. I dread to think how much I would have forgotten over the years if my retreats had not provoked my memory.

2. To Recharge

When do I recharge my Fitbit? It’s a dilemma because it records stats of my every waking and sleeping moment. I usually end up doing a small partial charge while I shower but it never really fully charges within such a short space of charging time. Can you see where I’m going with this? The question of when do we fully ‘recharge’ our spirit is really important. I love giving out and my days are often filled with me ministering to people – it is such a joy and honour to do so (most of the time) but when do I recharge? Of course my daily rhythms are important but I find I need a deeper charge which comes from a place of intimate encounter with the Lord and I get these at my retreats.

3. To Refocus

Everyone has more ‘opportunities’ than they have ‘time‘. There isn’t going to be an eighth day added into our weeks, the clocks aren’t going to slow down and we’re not going to be able to continually find faster ways of working. Managing the opportunities and responsibilities is only going to be possible because of these few things:

• our ability to create focus and create systems around this focus

• our ability to say no

• our ability to delegate

Retreats often become times of declutter for me. I usually return knowing there are some things I need to say ‘no’ to, I’ve often returned with a reordered diary and I’ve often had God given insights as to who I can empower and delegate tasks that need to be transitioned out of my diary.

But the most powerful refocusthat keeps coming up in my retreats is the searching Psalm 27:4which says ‘One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.’

Our ultimate focus, our one thing, is to desire Him. I don’t know how many times this verse has challenged my drifting focus. Our focus isn’t to lead a thriving growing ministry but it is to love Him! When we get this focus right, when it’s our authentic motivation then everything else will just flow.

Ho often do I retreat?

I take a personal retreat day once a month and also add retreats with other friends at various times throughout the year. They are set in my diary well in advance and are rarely moved.

I have a number of different ways I facilitate the days and I’ll look to share some things on the content of my retreats in a later post – but in summary, they involve walking, prayer, reading the scriptures and other devotional material and journaling. I try and not be overly formulaic though as I want to have the flexibility to listen to the whispers of the Holy Spirit, who is surely the best retreat leader we can ever encounter!

Do you take regular retreats?

I would love to hear how retreats have impacted you and also get insights into any resources or strategies you have adopted for making these times the most fruitful. Or if this post has prompted you to try taking a retreat, let me know how it goes.