Retreat - A year on & Beyond

Thanks to all the curious cats who read and gave their opinions on this which has allowed me to publish this with a peaceful state of mind. Happy readings, may God reveal things to you, hopefully !
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Certain things in life, one must personally go through it or be part of something to fully comprehend the full extent of what exactly is happening. For everyone out there, the Lord would have/will be in the near future, call you at a certain stage in your walk with him to serve in various committees to bless those around you. Each group is unique in itself, with a very interesting blend of people from all walks of life, coming together to achieve the end goal for God glory.

Last year retreat was, personally a wonderful experience and it's great to witness so much that God has done and is currently doing even at this moment in the run up to this year retreat. Just a few more days before this year retreat, so what exactly is on everyone mind and what do u truly want to experience during those 3 days? That I'll leave to you to think and pray about.

We are already so focus on praying for the retreat during this period of time, have we ever thought about praying for what's beyond retreat. True, its important to be focus on what's ahead of us, but its equally important to focus on the road ahead. If we keep on , as discussed in cell, year after year, keep asking for the same desires to be met during retreat itself, then something outside of retreat must occur for us to move onto a deeper level with the Lord.

That's when prayer for the other 362 days is important. Because, it serves no one any good to reach the peak of the mountain, the climax of events or meeting a full stop when the retreat is over. Instead, we must start to trust and believe that God will change us for the better, that we'll "Wake up", and that we'll be made anew in his image. At the same time, we must start asking questions like "So what's next?" JFK once said: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Maybe, it's time we do the same in the context of after becoming renewed, “Ask not what God can do for me, but what I can do for God". God doesn't need us to do anything for him but yet he desires an obedient heart that will listen and be willing to carry out things he wants us to do for him. Indeed, let the retreat be the jump start that we need to spur us on a more intimate relationship with him and also in serving him. Because serving him can be a great reminder for us to stay in tune with his blueprint for all creation.

In any relationship, God or human wise, both parties must be willing to play out their part for the relationship to work. Sir Alex, Man U manager, once said, He is driving a bus load full of passengers, and it’s going at high speed without any stops. If anyone thinks they can’t cope with the ride anymore, then he'll just leave them behind. That's how the world we are living in behaves but does God do that? Absolutely not! God, the bus driver in this case, will keep on coming back to the bus stop where you are situated to pick you up time and time again. The question is, are you willing to board the bus he is driving in the 1st place so that you can be moving along with him?

Lastly, I received something during cell on sat but mentioning it was a bit out of place due to the focus on retreat itself. We all acknowledge that retreat been a yearly event is something that helps us to refocus back to God. However, due to the time gap, we sometimes feel that we are back to square once again when a new year is upon us. There doesn't seem to be much growth. Well, maybe to look at things in a bigger picture, with service changing to sat and all of us getting older and busier with families in future, maybe the newly given free Sunday is something wonderful for us all. Why? Instead of a yearly retreat, a once every 3 or 6 month single day retreat on Sunday, will help us to realign ourselves with the Lord, prepare us better for the next few months and also set aside time to spend with one another on a greater level. Maybe this can be explored in future?

For now, let's continue to be focused on what's right up ahead and may each one of you, have a wonderful experience in being in His presence and being made new for future challenges for his glory ahead.

M'kkadesh - The lord Sanctifies