Summer Shore

Summer is a co-founder and director of Revive Ministries, an author, speaker, producer, and co-host of the Experience Revival podcast. She was also an on-air personality on Christian radio for over six years. Summer has been speaking and teaching for over 19 years, using humor and real-life experiences to connect with women, speak to their hearts, and draw them closer to God. She also enjoys singing and leading worship whenever she can. Summer and her husband, Jake, have been married since 2003 and have three sons who keep her on her toes! Summer loves traveling and going on adventures with her family, especially if it involves eating at her favorite Cuban restaurant. When she’s not on the air or working with Revive, you’ll find her curled up in a fuzzy blanket with a mug of chai tea and a Hallmark movie. You can connect with her on Instagram @summer_shore.

  • Purposeful Living

    Catch me if you can

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    “The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” 3 But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish.”

    Jonah 1:1-3

    There are times in ministry that I relate with Jonah. He definitely does not start out as the hero in this story, running toward the front lines, ready to do the Lord’s will without flinching. I would love to say that I am always strong and ready to dive right in, no matter what. But that is not me. Especially when it comes to matters of the heart. When I think that what the Lord is calling me to might be painful. And I think that God is ok with that.

    Consider Jonah for a moment. Jonah got a clear message from God. I don’t know how he received that message, but the Lord gave it and Jonah got it. He had a clear understanding of what God was asking him to do. Often, I pray for that kind of clarity and direction. I’d pray, “Lord if you could just make it CLEAR to me what I should do, I would do it.” But when it is clear, when God does grant a peek at where He is leading, I freeze in a moment of fight or flight. “But Lord, that looks so difficult, so painful, so heartbreaking”. I perseverate on the difficulties of the task ahead, forgetting that the reward of touching hearts and lives will be more payoff than anything actually required of me. I’m not just talking about the heavenly reward of being a servant-I’m talking about the absolute rush of joy at seeing lives transformed for God. The earthly thrill of recognizing where God is at work and joining Him. But it’s not incentive that I think of, it’s the difficulty. Jonah experienced that too. So much so, that he didn’t just abandon the call, but he literally RAN away from the Lord. He got on a boat and set out to sea, hoping to escape.

    And don’t we just do that? We think we can hide from God, run away or stand our ground in defiance. But there is no where we can hide that our loving God cannot see us. No place we can run to escape His gentle guidance. As my friend Gregg puts it, our arms are simply too short to box with God.

    While Jonah is on the boat, sailing away from God, a horrible storm begins. It doesn’t take long for Jonah to realize that the storm is a direct result of His disobedience. He convinces the men aboard to throw him off the boat and into the sea.

    Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

    This part of the story will never cease to simultaneously amaze and amuse me. The Lord arranged to a fish to swallow Jonah. It was an unusual act of mercy. I dare you to say God doesn’t have a sense of humor. Jonah spends a long weekend in that fish, and then the Lord commands the fish to spit Jonah out on the beach. Jonah’s prayer while he is simmering in that fish-belly, is a profound commentary on life when we are running away from God. It is hints powerfully at the waters of baptism as our old self “dies”, we are “buried” and then “rise” again to new life. As one with some experience running from God, the verse that stands out most to me is “as my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord”

    I have run from God before. It’s dark, lonely and confusing. It’s hard to tell which was is up, like being tumbled in a mighty wave. Then I remember the Lord. God is faithful. His is for us. He never drops us and will redeem our lives, our experiences and our pain for purpose: to help others and enrich our own lives.

    Eventually, Jonah comes around and follows the Lord’s commission to go to Ninevah. There he shares his experience and the good news about God’s boundless love. Many people hear Jonah’s words and turn toward God in the end. When you find yourself running, avoiding God’s call, wavering to make the decision you know to be right, remember the Lord and run toward God.

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  • Knowing God

    Afraid of the dark?

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    “Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
    See, darkness covers the earth
    and thick darkness is over the peoples,
    but the Lord rises upon you
    and his glory appears over you.
    Nations will come to your light,
    and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”
    Isaiah 60-1-3

    We have all experienced dark times in our lives. Darkness covers the earth… Seems an appropriate way to describe the times we live in today. Thick darkness is over the peoples…. We certainly seem surrounded by darkness, death, despair. Even as a Christian, I long for the light, for the sun’s rays to pierce through the clouds and warm my face. Because in the light darkness cannot prevail. It only takes one tiny flame to break the darkness. In Exodus 20:18-21 Moses is tasked by the people of Israel with speaking with God on their behalf. God had appeared on a mountain and the sight was petrifying.

    18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
    20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”
    21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.” Exodus 20:18-21

    Read Verse 21 again. “The people remained at a distance while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.”

    God was in the thick darkness. I’ll admit that is the last place I would expect to find God. In the dark, in the thunder, in the scary unknown. I guess I always pictured that God would swoop in and take me out of the darkness, not that He would be there, waiting to meet me when I go through it.

    I have heard Moses going to meet with God described as though he were walking toward an erupting volcano. The thunder and lightening were so ferocious that everything shook. Terrifying to behold, let alone walk toward.

    The people witnessing this frightening scene pleaded with Moses like a successful execution of good cop/bad cop were playing out. “You talk to us Moses! You’re reasonable! If God talks directly to us we will surely die!”

    So Moses approaches the thick darkness where God was.  

    Where God was waiting, in the midst of the danger. He was the danger, a fearsome thing to behold. Yet He is good, and He is God and He is gentle. He even warned the people to stay back at a distance so they would be safe. Moses approached with boldness and confidence that he would meet God there.

    Herein lies the challenge of the first passage in Isaiah 60. There’s darkness all around. As a Christ-follower, am I willing to arise, walk into the thick darkness that covers the people, and shine so that the glory of God can be revealed? Am I willing to come alongside someone who is hurting, surrounded by pain so thick they cannot see, and stand next to God in that darkness? Am I willing to see that terrifying scene and walk right in trusting that God will be there waiting for me to join him? Waiting for me to bind the wounds of the helpless and care for the sick and weary? Even the ones I don’t understand or like?

    “thick darkness covers the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you, and His glory appears over you”

    My heart is heavy at the events of the world. It trembles at the thought of heading toward the darkness when others retreat. But in that darkness God waits for us to join Him and shine His light and glory. It may be the last place I’d look for Him, but exactly where a Savior and his people are needed most.

    Moses did not stay in the darkness forever. He came back with a purpose and a message from God. He also came back with the confidence that comes only from experiencing God and stepping out in faith to meet him where the need is greatest.

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