Just a few thoughts on why we experience a dip in the degree to which we operate in the spirit after short term missions.
Mission conditions are unique
When coming back from short term missions, the following things tend to change quite a bit:
- Fellowship of believers: on mission we are surrounded 24/7 by believers who are very zealous for the Lord.
- Less distractions: on mission we don’t have to concern ourselves with many of the day-to-day responsibilities we have back at home.
- Prayers of other believers: on mission we have other believers constantly praying for us, especially if we make a point to organize prayer partners.
When these things fall away, the natural result is that we don’t experience the same spiritual walk in our daily lives as we had on the mission.
I believe this is by design. God has intentionally designed the Church in such a way that we are dependent on each other, whether through fellowship, prayer, teaching, or any other way in which Christ is ministered between the members of the body. To expect the same walk with God when 100 people are actively praying for you vs when you come back and only a handful are praying is very unrealistic, and can set us up for unnecessary disappointment or disillusionment.
How to redeem the blues
Maybe the spiritual “high” we experience is God’s way to motivate us to seek to incorporate these three things more regularly in our daily lives. Whether that be asking believers to pray for us, taking weekends off to seek God’s face, or making more intentional time to gather with a group of other on-fire believers, these all should help us experience some of the spiritual joy and power we did on missions.