The Basics

The past few years have been interesting to say the least. There has been unrest and upheaval. People that I know have died in larger amounts than I can remember, from my whole life. In the midst of this movement and change, the landscape of ministers has shifted. People have left for the business world. Church numbers have fallen. The already present challenge of fighting for time and for community within the church has gotten even more disconnected as online church has emerged. There has been discouragement and disappointment, and if I’m honest, I have been one of those that has explored what a different job would look like for the next 10-20 years, as well.

To continue to pile on with more sadness, it now feels like we are always on the brink of something bad happening. I don’t know if it is the residual effects from 2020-2021, or if it is something tangible in the air (que Phil Collins “In the Air Tonight”), but there has been a shift.

It has made me wonder what kind of precipice we are standing in front of – revival? Or some kind of implosion? Maybe the Lord’s return? Come Lord Jesus, come.

In my own life, through unexpected challenge, or blips of seeing His Kingdom surface, there is an undeniable stirring. I don’t know what it looks like in your life, but I know that in my own life and ministry there seems to be more distinct darkness and light in the everyday. While I work in a community that is the most intellectually gifted people I have met in my life, I see more adamant denial of the existence of God, but also very passionate devoted fiery people hungry for the reality of Christ every part of their lives.

Even in the day to day going to work, it seems I never know what I’m going to get. Did life seem to be a little more predictable 3 years ago, or is it just me? One day, I’ll be walking between buildings headed to a meeting and feel that move in my heart for prayer in the Spirit. The next day, I show up to another meeting and it feels like hell has just shown up like food poisoning – violent and sudden.

So how do we navigate a time like this? How do we do all that we are called to do? How do we keep hope and faith alive? I think it’s the right in front of you, softball pitch Sunday school answer of staying connected to The Source. Basic, right? But if there’s one thing I have learned from almost 10 years in the military, it is that you train over and over so that when you’re in the middle of the mess that IS coming – you don’t have to think. Basics. Be brilliant in the basics. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.

So what are the basics for you? For me, the first thing has always been talking to my Lord. If I go back to the beginning, when my heart was really coming alive with understanding His love, I remember just sitting in my college dorm room, pulling up a chair for Jesus, and simply talking to Him. I can’t capture with words exactly why this was and is, so sweet to me, but it is the foundation. Today, this week, the past few months, it has been this same thing again. Circumstances

are different now. I’m not worried that my roommate will come in, or that one of my neighbors will knock and want to borrow my grilled cheese maker, but my time is a little more fought over than when I was in college. The sweet, quiet hours of the morning are when we meet together now – not the late hours of the night. And sometimes, Jesus rides shotgun on the way to work.

But this does not come without cost. The truth is that I PT (run) better in the morning. But that time had to move because Jesus connection is critical. Moving PT is not ideal, and it messes up my hair washing routines (can I get a witness from the ladies?!), but the stuff just had to move. The basics had to be prioritized.

That’s not all. I find myself not able to watch some of the stuff I could watch on TV a year ago – or even listen to, or read. Not out of rules, but because this morning routine with the extended prayer is making my heart more sensitive. I used to love me some murder mysteries, but I find that my heart just can’t – and I’m trying to listen to that pause. There is a hunger stirring, and I don’t think it’s just me. Even the past two weeks, with what is happening out of Asbury College – it seems like the hunger for His Presence is spilling over. Or maybe all the stirring in the earth is letting that hunger drive up to the surface?

Prioritizing the basics hasn’t taken away all of the challenges, but it’s helping the challenges not distract me from what God is trying to do in the earth, in our country, in our region, and in our lives.

I heard earlier this week that it’s the mundane love that ends up having the reward that everyone wants. The basics – even if they look slightly different. No roommates interrupting, but maybe it’s planning around your 3 kids? Maybe you pull up a seat for Jesus to talk to him and keep getting interrupted, but the heart behind what ends up being only 3 ½ minutes is what keeps connection. Your basics may even look constrained. But remember that you are in a relationship with a God, who, if we could see His face when your kids came in, would for sure be smiling and scoop them up Himself! Remember that His heart sees your life and He is pulling for you! You are His beloved. Listen to the Holy Spirit that guides you on days where you’re hearing Him well, and on days where you miss Him – his mercies are new every morning. Whatever your basic looks like – take heart in the stirring. Take heart that He’s with you. Take heart that His Spirit is moving.

LCDR Holly Short, CHC, USN Command Chaplain NIOC TX