Lysa’s Thoughts on Israel

This post was written by the AWESOME Lysa TerKeurst who is president of Proverbs 31 Ministries, author of the brand new book, “The Best Yes” (which I HIGHLY recommend!!) and now a frequent student in the Holy Land. Lysa wrote this post to encourage those of you who are still trying to decide if you could/should go with us to Israel this October. I know I've been telling you how awesome it is. And now Lysa wanted to tell you her thoughts about it too...

Something was off inside of me. I was tired. Spent. Emotionally and physically drained. I sat down with my Bible and prayed that God would breath life back into my weary heart.

For years, the favorite part of each morning was connecting with God on deep levels through the reading of His Word.

But lately my Bible reading felt a bit thin. I was going through the motions of meeting with God but felt disconnected. What was once so invigorating felt more like another thing on my endlessly long to do list.

I would sit down to prepare new messages for my upcoming speaking engagements and wonder if all my best messages were behind me. I lacked inspiration. Teaching content that had once come like a gushing river of insight now barely trickled onto the pages of my notes.

There was a deep ache in my heart for something to change. And yet, as I looked at the reality of my schedule, all I saw was months ahead booked solid with endless demands.

When a person lives with the stress of an overwhelmed schedule, they’ll ache with the sadness of an underwhelmed soul.

That ache of sadness was draining the life out of me and my desire to do ministry.

And then Perry called me to invite me to study with some of his staff in Israel. I wanted to go, but not now. A trip like that would have to wait until I could find time.

One day.

But here’s the deal, no one in the history of the world, ever found more time. Plus, if you’ve ever talked to Perry he can be rather insistent when it comes to changing people’s lives with Biblical truth. And Perry knew this would change me.

And it did.

It wasn’t easy to rearrange my schedule and figure out how to make traveling to Israel work in this season of my life. But there isn’t anything else that’s invigorated my heart and my passion for ministry like studying in the Holy Land.

When I got home, my staff instantly sensed a new depth in my teaching and a fresh inspiration in my spirit.

It was truly the best ministry investment anyone has ever made in me. That’s why when Perry told me he was doing another trip for leaders, I knew I had to encourage you to go.

It was so transformational for me when I got home in March, I immediately signed up to go again in June. And I’ll return for a third time at the end of this year.

Please don’t let anything hold you back. Hit the pause button on all the demands rushing at you, and let God breathe new life in your ministry this fall in the Holy Land.

It’s amazing what can happen when we get intentional about underwhelming our schedule so God can overwhelm our soul.