As I See It…

Spring came for a day this week. I realized that because my home office became stuffy about mid-afternoon and I needed to open a window. I had forgotten how a fresh warm breeze could smell as it broke up the winter staleness of the room. It moved in gently, hardly noticeable. But the smell was sweet; I paused from my work just to drink it in a little. That sweet smell brought a faint smile to my face and a big lift in my spirit. It was good to be refreshed again. Winter, at least for the moment, had faded rapidly to the recesses of my mind and the hope of more warmth and longer days began to occupy my thoughts.

I began to wonder what else might bring refreshment to my spirit. Could more than a gentle and very welcomed breeze do that? God told the children of Israel that they should work six days and then rest on the seventh. If they did that, they would “refresh themselves.” Imagine that, simply ceasing from work can bring refreshment to tired bodies.

Solomon told his son that the fear of the Lord would bring “refreshment to [his] bones.” That bit of instruction came in the context of Solomon mentioning that trusting the Lord and not leaning to our own understanding would add to our “refreshment.” Solomon also tells us that a faithful servant who carries the message as instructed likewise provides refreshment. He was not just making sure that the message was delivered, but that the content was faithfully transmitted. It is reminiscent a little of Paul’s word in Ephesians, “Speaking the truth in love…”

Speaking of Paul, in one of his Corinthian epistles, he wrote about men—friends of his—who had refreshed his spirit and the Corinthians as well. Now there’s a thought, how would you like to have such a testimony that your presence with another actually refreshes them! This fact should not easily escape our attention. Paul would speak of several friends of his who, by just spending time with him, would refresh his “heart in Christ,” as he put it. I like that.

Why don’t we make it our goal this year to be more refreshing to others? That simply by our presence, we would lift someone else’s spirit. We would all become gentle warm breezes that help drive staleness from their lives.

Pastor Megilligan