This is a different health topic. It’s not about any particular disease or ailment. Nor is it about any vitamin, mineral, herb, homeopathic or other physical remedy. This is spiritual remedy, a soul remedy, not so much for a particular health problem, but a periodic remedy I recommend for life overall. I call it a Personal Retreat.
WHAT IS A “PERSONAL RETREAT”?
What I call a Personal Retreat, consists of a time apart and away from your usual routine and locale in which you focus on spiritual refreshment and knowing God’s direction for specific issues in your life. It will be characterized by gaining perspective and peace for your life amidst turmoil. It will be recreation in the true sense, a “re-creation” of your soul.
I’m not sure when or how I discovered the secret of Personal Retreats, but I’ve been doing them for at least 20 years. In the last five years, I’ve put a major focus on this activity. It has taken me through horrendous business and personal trials restoring my hope again and again. For me, Personal Retreats have been necessary to really a deeply meet with God.
BIBLICAL EXAMPLES
I, of course, did not invent Personal Retreats. The concept can be found throughout Scripture. Jacob’s night alone, wrestling with God, was a Personal Retreat. The nation of Israel resulted, changing the course of human history. Moses’ Personal Retreat was 40 days on Mt. Sinai, meeting with God as no man has before or since. We have God’s Law because of that Personal Retreat.
Elijah’s Personal Retreat started from a crises — he was in deep depression running for his life from Jezebel after killing her false prophets on Mt. Carmel:
But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, ’It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.’ And he lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, ’Arise, eat.’
The passage continues with Elijah being directed to Horeb, where he has a meeting with God, who ministers to Elijah’s depression by revealing His Glory and giving Elijah a new job anointing several kings. Elijah went into his Personal Retreat bemoaning that he was the only true prophet left, but God informs him that there are 7000 other prophets remaining. Elijah was physically, mentally and spiritually exhausted after Mt. Carmel. Through a Personal Retreat God put him back together.
The Apostle Paul had an extended Personal Retreat after his unusual and dramatic conversion, spending many years in Arabia, experiencing fellowship and teaching from Jesus Christ. This time elevated him to the role of an Apostle, even though he had not been with Christ during His earthly ministry.
JESUS’ PERSONAL RETREATS
Jesus Himself demonstrated the principle of getting away to focus on God and His will repeatedly during His earthly ministry. He often went away to pray by Himself:
But He Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray. (Luke 5:16)
And after He had sent the multitudes away, He went up to the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. (Matt. 14:23)
Jesus’ perhaps most important decision — choosing the twelve apostles — was preceded by a Personal Retreat:
And it was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. And when the day came, He called His disciples to Him; and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles
. . . (Luke 6:12-13)
Jesus also told the disciples to go on a Personal Retreat:
And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) And they went away in the boat to a lonely place by themselves. (Mark 6:31-32)
I infer some relevance for us from that example!
BUSY IMPOTENCY
I think the average person (and especially the average Christian) is just too busy. Many people have marveled at how I could take several days away from work just to be alone with God and contemplate the deepest questions of my life. My answer would be, “How could I ever hope to accomplish God’s goals for my life without taking that special time alone with Him? It’s precisely because I am so busy that I must take time for Personal Retreats. Most people are busier than God intended them to be. Personal Retreats are one antidote to that. To be too busy, to have no time to get away for spiritual reflection, is to be spiritually impotent. Unless you’re a rat, you don’t belong in a “rat race”.
People that are always busy — too busy — ultimately have a ego problem. They think they’re indispensable, that the world is going to fall apart if they don’t keep up their frantic pace. One of the greatest values of Personal Retreats is simply to discover your own insignificance, to learn that God really is running things. It takes a lot of pressure off.
THE PROBLEM OF “NOISE”
No, I’m not talking about the decibel level of your kid’s boom box, though that is one type of noise. The noise I’m referring to is the noise in your own head from all the details of your life — problems, decisions, worries, anticipations, etc. — all of which create interference from simply hearing God.
Every Christian has wondered and agonized over knowing God’s will for their lives. God is speaking, and we even try to listen for His voice, but often to no avail. Noise is the problem. There’s so much stuff going on in your head most of the time that you couldn’t hear God if He were shouting at you.
Personal Retreats dissipate the noise in our heads. It may take a few hours or a few days, it may take fasting, it may take entering a totally unfamiliar environment, but life will get simple again on a Personal Retreat. New ideas and insights will abound as it seems like God were sitting next to you.
HOW TO’S
Since you’ve probably never done this before, some how to’s are in order:
- Set Aside the Time — You make this a priority and schedule everything else around it. That may mean you have to plan your Personal Retreat weeks in advance. Remember, everyone has the same amount of time — 24 hours a day. Not everyone has the same priorities.
You may want to just do a one day Personal Retreat, or you may want to make a special trip that goes 3-5 days. I have been doing one day retreats every month or two and longer retreats ideally once a year, but everyone has different needs. Go as God leads.
- Set the Location — I sometimes go to places I’ve never been, but always wanted to see. Unfamiliar places seem to work really well. But other times I go to a special place that God has given kind of an anointing to for me. Sometimes it’s special because of previous experience there.
- Preparation — Journaling your time is essential. I start in my Journal writing down three to four questions or decisions that are going to be my focus for that day. I take my Bible, of course, but I also sometimes take another inspirational book just to read for applicable insights. One of my most dramatic Personal Retreats featured insights from a book I just happened to take with me, a book that had been sitting on my bookshelf for years unread.
- Fasting or Not? — Fasting cuts through the “noise” better than about anything I know. I almost always fast on a one day Personal Retreat. On longer retreats I usually eat, but rather simply. Do as you’re led or just experiment.
- Clearing — There’s no real agenda on a Personal Retreat — in fact, the whole idea is to dissolve your agenda and learn God’s agenda. I begin by just resting and relaxing. I’m in no hurry. I’m there to meet God and am just being prepared for that.
I let my body and mind just become part of the area I’m in. I look at the details around me in the creation. I find that, after two or three hours, I see things different. I really see the beauty of the view that I only partially comprehended before. I find that the birds or other animals start approaching me more closely. I’ve become part of the environment, instead of just an intruder.
- Bible Reading & Meditation — I flip around in the Bible a little until I’m impressed to home in on a passage. Once God starts speaking to me through a passage, I milk it for all it’s worth by meditating on it and looking up cross references. I focus on letting God set the agenda and just follow His leading.
Anything that strikes me I write down in my Journal. If an answer to one of my three or four questions emerges, I write that down, identifying it with the question number. I usually find that, after a few hours, I am being flooded with insights — at least on some of my questions. Sometimes I get no answers at all on a particular question.
- Walk or Hike — I typically will go for short walks near my camp. Unless I’m on a several day Personal Retreat, I don’t usually go on a real hike, just due to time and focusing my attention.
Some of my best one day Personal Retreats have been in Saguaro National Park outside of Tucson. I sit at a picnic table for awhile and then just wander around amidst the giant, often 200 year-old Saguaro cacti. I ultimately let God teach me lessons through looking at His Creation. I envision myself as a little child being led and taught by a loving Father. I see my own insignificance. I sense God’s grace and calling upon my life.
I go away from this encounter knowing better who I am and why I am here — not to mention being full of energy.
Better Health Update is published by Pacific Health Center, PO Box 1066, Sisters, Oregon 97759, Phone (800) 255–4246 with branch clinics in Boise, Idaho, Post Falls, Idaho and Portland, Oregon. E-Mail: drkline@pacifichealthcenter.com. Monte Kline, Clinical Nutritionist, Author. Reproduction Prohibited.
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this publication is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose illness nor prescribe treatment. Rather, this material is designed to be used in cooperation with your nutritionally-oriented health professional to deal with your personal health problems. Should you use this information on your own, you are prescribing for yourself, which is your constitutional right, but neither the author nor publisher assume responsibility.