The Secret of The Easy Yoke

Therein lies the secret of the easy yoke, according to Dallas Willard. In order to effectively follow Jesus into public ministry, we must also follow Jesus into the lonely desert and mountains to be alone with God. It is true that "a successful performance at a moment of crisis rests largely and essentially upon the depths of a self wisely and rigorously prepared in the totality of its being." In other words, "We who are appointed by God to heal others, need the physician ourselves." This necessary relationship between the leader’s private solitude and public ministry, according to Nouwen, can only be nourished "when we have met our Lord in the silent intimacy of our prayer" which will enable us also to "meet him in the camp, in the market, and in the town square. But when we have not met him in the center of our hearts, we cannot expect to meet him in the busyness of our daily lives." (p. 42)

We serve a church that honors frenzied activity and long hours. We are recognized and rewarded for our doing, and not for our being. (p. 40)

"Ministry is service in the name of the Lord. It is bringing the good news to the poor, proclaiming liberty to captives and new sight to the blind, setting the downtrodden free and announcing the Lord’s year of favor (Luke 4:18). Spirituality is paying attention to the life of the Spirit in us; it is going out to the desert or up to the mountain to pray; it is standing before the Lord with open heart and open mind; it is crying out, ‘Abba, Father;’ it is contemplating the unspeakable beauty of our loving God." Henri Nouwen (cited in Shawchuck and Heuser, Leading the Congregation, p. 39)

From "As You Consider Your Place in the World…", Jim Martin.

I find the above passage very meaningful. Recently, I've been thinking about a lot of things. Still digesting, though haha.

But one thing that I'm very grateful to God for is discovering the joy of seeking Him first and foremost. I've been starting to do more and more things, in ministry, church, personal developments, work and so on.

And I am so starting to see that without God in the center of all this busyness, everything is meaningless. I'm not saying that what I'm doing doesn't have value. But without time spent in the Saviour's presence,

I was talking with this brother in Silicon Valley this morning. And I asked him what I could pray for him. One of his prayer needs was that God would help remind and renew in him the reason and purpose he started a caregroup there.

Yah. We all need to be reminded time to time why we are doing the things that we do.

Personally, I've been starting to establish a habit of having a personal retreat every week to go to some quiet place with lots of greenery, trees and open air. Thank God that He helped me see that I'm a creation pathway person.

And it's so essential for me to spend time praying to Him. There's simply no other way. I do need and desire the power from on high, to do the work that He has given me to do. AND to know what that work is in the first place.

I don't want to be a machine-gunner, frantically spewing bullets all over the place, but never hitting anything. Rather, I want to know what I'm aiming for. To be a sniper. To make every shot of my life count. And to maximize the damage to Satan's dominion.

So I love to go to a high, quiet place e.g. AMK Park, and just sit on top of the hill and start talking and walking with God. I could spend hours and hours talking till midnight. I simply treasure every little moment spent in His presence. And I'm so glad that I can sincerely say, "my Beloved is mine, and I am His - His banner over me is love." (Song of Songs)

Yah. It's so true. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Aye-men. The Lord's yoke is not burdensome, but easy, and His burden is not oppressive, but light. Would you let Him put His gentle yoke upon you today?