Called to Sit at His Feet
By Raluca Ril
I had just come home to Romania from spending a 10 month-stint in Africa, when I heard God calling, “Come aside by yourself to a deserted place and rest awhile" (Mark 6:33).
Honestly, I was not happy about His invitation. I had always been a very active person. For the past five years, in fact, I had been working as a volunteer missionary in Guyana, Vanuatu, and Namibia. And I had loved it.
The reality was that coming home to visit my family each summer was hard, as I faced counter-culture shock and didn’t really feel like I fit in. So when God started calling me to rest from my missionary labors in Africa, He might as well have been giving me my death sentence. My whole life revolved around service. What was I to do now? I was really confused.
Reluctantly I obeyed God’s call, but it was not without arguing and many tears.
However, not long after, in the quietness of my grandparent's home God began speaking to me. "Raluca, I want your heart, not just your service. I want to spend time with you. I miss the time we used to spend together."
Suddenly it dawned on me that for the past five years I had been so busy working for the Lord that I had not really been taking time for Him. Oh, I usually had morning devotions, but it was often superficial and rushed. Prayer was more a monologue, giving God a long list of my needs and complaints rather than fellowship. In reality, I had been living for service, not for God.
To be honest, I was proud of what I’d been doing. Even though I came from a poor country and had no source of income, God had been providing. I was also proud that I was a single girl who dared to leave the comfort of her home and live in dangerous places as a missionary where not too many girls would dream of going.
However, as I sat in my grandparent’s home, I realized that my years in service had really been more about me, and not so much about Him. Service, not God, had become the lord of my life. And while it was a good lord, it was not the true Lord I should be following.
In Proverbs 23:26, God gives us an invitation, "My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways."
Thankfully, I finally realized what I’d been missing in my life. I needed to re-surrender my heart to Him, learn to sit at His feet, and rebuild my relationship with Him. This required a change of focus and discipline in how I used my time, but wow, what a difference I experienced in my spiritual walk as a result!
It’s been almost ten years now since I made this choice to spend more time at His feet, but to be honest, these last few years have been some of the best years of my life! God has exceeded all my expectations. I work in full time ministry once again, but now in ways I never imagined in my wildest dreams. But this is what God has called me to do, and this time, instead of it being about service and what I can do, it’s all about Him and what He will do.
Truly, God has proven His promise, that He can do "exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" (Eph. 3:20). I couldn’t be happier or more at peace than I am today. God is so good!
Raluca Ril and her husband, Roman, have co-authored several years of the 10 Days of Prayer materials for the world church. Both active in ministry, they currently live in Germany.
To download this week's blog and prayer requests, click here!
World Church Prayer Requests
December 23 - 30, 2018
• PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the Generation of Youth for Christ Conference held next weekend in Houston, Texas, United States. Thousands of young people from all over the world are gathering together. Pray for special Holy Spirit blessings on the meetings, the speakers, and the outreach that is planned for the city of Houston.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for the General Conference Youth Ministries Department as they prepare to mobilize Pathfinders and other young adults all over the world to preach at 100,000 different sites for Total Youth Involvement. This begins March 2019. #TYI19
• PRAYER REQUEST: Please continue to pray for those who are still working to pull their lives back together after the deadly fires in California. Pray for those struggling to survive in war-torn countries of the world. Pray that God will be their comfort and hope.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Please continue to pray for the first quarter Day of Prayer and Fasting on January 5, 2019. The emphasis for this quarter is: “World Changing Prayer Warriors.” To learn more, visit: www.revivalandreformation.org.
• PRAYER REQUEST: Please pray for Ten Days of Prayer, January 9-19, 2019. Many lives have been changed because of this special initiative. Please pray earnestly that more individuals, as well as churches, all over the world will choose to be part of this powerful Ten Days of Prayer focusing on cultivating a deeper experience with the Lord. To learn more, visit: www.tendaysofprayer.org