I crashed emotionally when I walked into my tiny room. There were two sparse bunk beds: period. Nowhere was to be seen a table or even a chair. The dormitory rooms had 8 foot walls, but no ceiling, so high above was the tin roof. When other people (students) were in the building all noises sound like they were in my room. The closest plumbing (aka bathroom) was a hundred yards up the hill. Out back was a pit toilet for those middle of the night trips.<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cLord, I don\u2019t think I can do this.\u201d I was \u2018stuck\u2019 for two weeks of teaching at this little Ugandan university. My description may not seem worth making a fuss, but I had already been away from home for a month: two weeks in Latvia and two weeks in Uganda, and I had just had to say good by to our Uganda team and, worst of all, my wife.<\/p>\n
I was alone. ALONE – except for the mosquitoes. So began my enforced retreat.<\/p>\n
Was this my lesson in \u201cbe careful what you ask for?\u201d In all of my trips to Uganda I had been continually amazed at the Christians\u2019 joy in worship and constant declaration of God\u2019s goodness and faithfulness. As I would look around at rutted dirt roads, dust, hungry children…I would ask myself, \u201cBased on what? What do you see that proclaims God\u2019s goodness?\u201d And yet they declared it so.<\/p>\n
With great perplexity I would ask the Lord, \u201cHow does this work? These dear people are poorer than poor, and yet they seem so convinced of your faithfulness when they have no physical evidence to support that notion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Be careful what you ask for. In order to answer the real question of my heart, God had to isolate me. After hours with just my Bible, prayer journal, and the merciful presence and voice of God, the summary of what I heard from the Lord in this isolation was something like this: \u201cYou are constantly distracted because of all the things you have. You can\u2019s see Me through all the stuff. The Ugandans you know don\u2019t have those distractions and have nothing except to seek Me. I am their life and their joy.\u201d<\/p>\n
When I picked up Shelley Trebesch\u2019s book Isolation: A Place of Transformation in the Life of A Leader, I knew this book would connect. When I read, \u201cDuring a desert or wilderness time, one is removed from his\/her normal, daily routine or home and isolated from friends and family,\u201d [1] I now had somewhat technical language to describe my Uganda experience.<\/p>\n
Dr. Trebesch\u2019s book is based on case studies: Biblical, other historical, and contemporary. With the advantages of story-telling as a teaching tool, she illustrates the functions, principles, and lessons of isolation.<\/p>\n
In order to define isolation, Trebesch quotes Dr. Robert Clinton, \u201cIsolation is the setting aside of a leader from normal ministry involvement in its natural context usually for an extended time in order to experience God in a new or deeper way. [2]<\/p>\n
Dr. Trebesch cites a number of things God can accomplish during isolation:
\n-character transformation
\n-dependence on the Lord
\n-increased intimacy with the Lord
\n-intense theological reflection [3]<\/p>\n
It seems that God uses isolation as a primary tool to build character and to refine us personally and theologically. The author writes, \u201cThus, we see a pattern of stripping and restoring or recreating of identity during these desert times. And the most encouraging thing, God always involves himself in the process.\u201d [4]<\/p>\n
Just before my first major chosen isolation, a three month sabbatical in 2003, I heard a therapist, who specializes in counseling pastors, speak of our lives as a reservoir. If more water flows out than in, the reservoir will become empty. At that time I was feeling that dryness. I wanted to just stand under a waterfall somewhere and be washed and filled by the water. It is healthy to be aware of potential dryness and move to establish regular times of filling in one\u2019s life. God often must use isolation to accomplish this filling.<\/p>\n
I was also encouraged by the statement, \u201cFor one of the major leadership lessons we have identified is, \u2018Effective leaders maintain a learning posture all their lives.\u2019\u201d [5] This reminded me of one of my heros in the faith: Dean Olleman. Dean is a brilliant metallurgical engineer and former elder in our church. One of the reasons I admire him is that even at age 90 he has never lost his curiosity. His continual hunger to learn contributed to my decision to enter our Doctor of Ministry program two months after retiring.<\/p>\n
Dr. Trebesch also wrote about a four step process during isolation: stripping, wrestling with God, Increased intimacy, release to look toward the future.<\/p>\n
Even during my brief forced retreat in Uganda I experienced these to a greater or lesser degree. As I sat alone, the Lord stripped me of distractions and props. I wrestled with Him a little about how to live at such a personally wealthy level and about my attitudes towards poverty. With no distractions He did speak to me and we went deeper together. Finally, even now I am leaning into the future and what further international leadership training will look like<\/p>\n
As Trebesch walked the reader through Psalm 42, showing the guidance in the Psalm for dealing with isolation, it occurred to me that our spirit-touched attitude is crucial. All of the hints given in the this chapter are affected by attitude, and in turn our attitude is affected by being faithful to the process she outlines.<\/p>\n
The key to isolation is having a soul that is open to the Lord\u2019s work and being willing to go anywhere with Him in order to cooperate with His plan and participate in His end goals for our lives. Although the style of this book is not smooth, it is very practical and could make the difference between someone failing in a time of isolation or coming out of isolation with all the qualities the Lord wishes to work in us though isolation.<\/p>\n
1. Shelley G. Trebesch, Isolation: A Place of Transformation in the Life of A Leader (Altadena, CA: Barnabas Publishers, 1997), 9.
\n2. Ibid., 10.
\nRobert J. Clinton, Leadership Emergence Theory (Altadena, CA: Barnabas Pub, 1989), 274.
\n3. Trebesch 15, 17, 26.
\n4. Ibid., 27.
\n5. Ibid., 34.
\n6. Ibid.,
\n7. Ibid.,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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