5 Ways to Connect with God While You’re on Vacation
Vacations are a time to get away from the never-ending to-do lists of work, home and school. Vacations give us time to connect as a family and space to unwind and relax. Vacations also come with a lot of planning, itineraries, costs and family activities, especially if you’re an explorer like me.
I love to deep dive into the culture, food, sightseeing and activities in every place we travel to. Although I love the way we travel, it sometimes feels rushed and too busy, and on more than one vacation, I found myself spending less time with the Lord, than I do during normal life, which is never a good thing. Sometimes we get so caught up in enjoying the blessings God has given us, that we forget to honour and spend time with Him in the process.
My husband and I recently went on a trip to the Swiss Alps, which is a destination we’d been dreaming about for years. I wanted this trip to be different to the others. I didn’t want another holiday to pass by without properly seeking God every day. I wanted us to include Him, and put Him first, every day.
Doing these 5 things on our vacation allowed us to centre our trip around God, instead of trying to find time to fit Him in. The surprising thing is, God showed up for us in ways I never expected. He was there all along, we just needed to slow down enough to see Him.
1. Spend the Morning with God
Starting the morning off in prayer, scripture and dedication to the Lord always makes the day go better. When you’re on vacation, it can be difficult to keep to that routine, but bringing a small devotional book with you and keeping it next to the bed is a great way to start your day with God while you’re away from home. That way, every morning when you wake up, the first thing you’ll see will be the devotional book, reminding you to start the day in the presence and love of Jesus.
My husband and I have a Godly marriage devotional book that travels with us wherever we go, and it helps us remember that, even when we’re having an amazing adventure, God will always be our first priority.
Another idea to devote your days to God on holiday, is to take a small travel Bible with you and read a few scriptures before leaving bed. You could also play some worship music while you’re getting ready for the day, or watch some sermons on YouTube before your day begins. Incorporating these small habits on your trips will invite God into your days and will make your time away even more restoring.
Some Awesome Christian YouTube Channels I Enjoy Are:
2. Bedtime Family Prayers
Incorporating nighttime prayers as a family will draw you closer to the Lord, and to each other, even after a busy day of exploring. Prayer is a beautiful time to draw near to God and to give thanks for all His blessings. Praying together as a family every night on vacation is the perfect way to thank Jesus and bring Him into your time away.
During our vacation of intentionally connecting more with God, my husband and I prayed together before bed every night, to give thanks and to ask Him to bless us with an amazing trip. Closing the day off in prayer and remembering how blessed we are by our Heavenly Father, really brought a new level of appreciation to the holiday, and reminded us how God is with us, no matter where we go.
3. Notice God’s Presence
The Word says that if you draw near to God, He will draw near to you, and that’s exactly what I experienced during this trip. I started to see God’s presence appear in ways I wouldn’t have noticed before. Beams of sunshine lighting up mountains and meadows in the Swiss Alps, a cross on a wall, on a balcony in Europe, encouraging scriptures along steep hiking trails, and the beauty of His creations all around.
God’s love and presence surround us all the time, but when we slow down and draw near to Him, that’s when our hearts become more aware of Him. We start noticing the ways He shows up for us in everyday moments. When you intentionally seek God and release your travel itinerary enough to notice His presence, your vacation will become filled with tender moments of love from the Lord, and will become even more memorable to you and your family.
4. Find a Quiet Place
If you’ve ever travelled around Europe, beautifully designed cathedrals with incredible architecture, like the Notre Dame in Paris, or La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, draw massive crowds, and often come with an entrance fee. Because of this, we’ll often just visit to see the outside of the churches, rather than going inside.
This does mean we miss out on experiencing the intricately designed inside spaces of these incredible churches. However, something that’s become one of our favourite travel experiences, is finding the small, unassuming churches that most tourists know nothing about. They’re often not busy inside, which gives us a beautiful, intimate moment to connect with God, in a quiet place.
I’ve felt the love and closeness of God so strongly during these vacation moments of quietness in churches all across Europe. It’s something that truly reminds me that God is with me, wherever I am in the world. Give it a try on your next vacation, even if it’s in a small US town church, or a church in the middle of Asia, God will meet you, wherever you are.
5. Share His Love
God is love, and we love because He first loved us. Our greatest commandment as children of God, is to love God and to love people. A lot of us seem to forget this during a trip away, especially when flight delays, hotel problems and language barriers come into play. Whether you’re frustrated with your family, or with a rude waitress, try and share His love through it all.
God challenged me and reminded me of this during our recent vacation. He said that if I was trying to connect more with Him in my time away from home, that I should remember that all He wants from us, is love for him and love for those around us.
I was quite taken aback, because at this point, I was feeling frustrated with a few people I’d encountered, but never thought about how my actions weren’t showing the love of my Saviour.
This taught me to be kind, and have grace, even when people are rude, because we are all just human and we all need love, even when the jetlag hits.
As disciples of Jesus, our relationship with God is the most important thing in our lives. When we are blessed to be able to enjoy a vacation, we should invite God into every moment of it. If you build in these 5 habits on your next vacation, the Spirit of God will fill you each day, and your vacation will have a sense of renewal and restoration like never before.
You’ll build family habits that will become holiday traditions. My husband and I really felt a huge change by being intentional with our time with God on our trip in the Alps. It filled us with faith and love and reminded us that God is and always will be our priority, whether we’re at home or not. Everything is better with God!
