NEED A VACATION?

by Tammy Phillips
June 25, 2020

Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore! – 1 Chronicles 16:11 NKJV

Vacation? How about you?  I do!  We all need to get away.  I see hands raising everywhere joining mine.  Kris traveled a lot pre-COVID.  I teased and told him that when he took a long business trip, it was vacation time for me.   Actually, I called them “faith-cations.”  I would wake up and give my first Love, the Lord, my undivided attention.  I would turn off the noise of the world.  No responsibilities hung over me, just hanging out with the Holy Spirit.

According to Allina Health, vacations are important because:

• Simply planing a vacation boosts happiness up to eight weeks before the trip.
• Lowers stress levels, brain and body heal
• Lessens risk of heart disease
• Betters one’s outlook on life
• More motivation to achieve goals
• Increased focus
• Strengthens relationships
• Improve sleep quality

If vacations are this beneficial, how much more faith-cations?  Well, I have been retreating into 1 Chronicles 16:11 for a while now.  I thought it was a simple verse.  When I discussed the verse with Holy Spirit, he showed me that it was simple, but full of depth and meaning.  The first seek mentioned in 1 Chronicles 16:11 is the Hebrew word, darash, implying:  to resort to, to tread to a place, go to a place, frequent a place, to search after, to look for an answer, to study, to follow, to practice.

Vacations are wonderful.  They are needed, but we, also, are encouraged to “resort to the LORD.”

Since the Lord is our destination, what does that mean?   The Lord, our Jehovah, is really spelled YHVH in Hebrew with no vowels.  It is unpronounceable.   When Moses asked God His name in Exodus 3:14, He said, “I am who I am, I was who I was, I will be who I will be.”   Jewish scholars say the Hebrew word, YHVH, the Lord’s name, is the sound of breathing in and out.  The name of our Creator is literally our very breath.  These letters are the root letters of the word “to be.” When we seek the Lord or resort to the Lord.  We seek “to be.”  We seek to simply exist.  Isn’t that exactly what we seek to do on vacation, just be?

In addition, we are  encouraged to seek his strength.  His strength is all that He is.  By definition it is His might, power, firmness, defense, refuge, splendor, majesty glory, and praise.  This leads us to the next part of the verse.  The second seek mentioned in 1 Chronicles 16:11 is a different Hebrew word, baquash, meaning: to search, to touch, to feel, seek to find, choose, try to get, require, demand, desire. This implies relationship and closeness.

The LORD is our place of escape.  When I go on vacation, I research the place.  I want to see everything this there is to see.  I want to experience everything it has to offer. I want to taste the regional cuisine.  The Lord wants us to resort to Him and do the same.  He wants us to seek His face, His presence.  He needs us to search him out.  He wants us to touch and taste his very presence. He hopes that we will choose to “faith-cation” with Him continually.

I enCOURAGE you to vacation with the Lord.   He is your breath.  Resort to Him.  He will boost your happiness.  He will lower your stress levels. His presence brings healing to your brain and body.  Time spent with Him will lessen your risk of heart disease. He will provide you with strength, motivation and increased focus.  Time in His presence will bring peace into your life and improve sleep.  Turn off the noise from the news, the television, and social media.  Take a vacation with Him and just be.