Times of Refreshing

Does your computer browser ever get stuck? Maybe you are trying to navigate to a website, and it will not pull up correctly on the screen. What do you do then? You have the option to hit the "refresh" button. Sometimes this little button is all you need to make your computer start working again. Sometimes our lives and spirits feel "stuck," just like your internet browser. It feels that we are at a standstill in our lives and we are not moving ahead. We need a time of refreshing for our bodies and spirits sometimes to help us keep moving.

Acts 3:19 was the verse that sparked this blog post. It reads, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” Doesn't it feel great to take a shower after a time of feeling sweaty and dirty? When you emerge from bathing, you feel refreshed. When you come to God clothed with sin and shame, and then you confess and repent of that sin, you feel refreshed and clean from the inside out.

I've had personal experiences when I was at the end of myself and really needing an answer from God. I felt His presence all over me and I couldn't help but shout and thank Him. During those moments, I felt refreshed and cared for by my Heavenly Father.

We can also help refresh one another. It is always refreshing to get together with a friend. Acts 27:3 reads, “And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself.” Philemon 1:20 says, “Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels in the Lord.”

Paul said in Romans 15:32, “That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.” 1 Corinthians 16:18 declares, “For they have refreshed my spirit and yours: therefore acknowledge ye them that are such.” 2 Corinthians 7:13 says, “Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all.” 2 Timothy 1:16 reads, “The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain.” In Philemon 1:7 we read, “For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.” Being with like-minded saints of God and having fellowship around the Word of God can refresh our spirit.

God Himself is not immune to feeling refreshed. Exodus 31:17 says, “It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.” God also passed on the gift of being refreshed after hard work to His people. Exodus 23:12 states, “Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed."

Good gospel music is also a way to refresh your spirit. 1 Samuel 16:23 says, “And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.” There have been many times when I have felt a refreshing of God's presence when a song of worship was being played, even in my car. God can refresh your spirit wherever you are; He is not limited to only the church building!

Reading the Word of God and praying are also ways to feel refreshed. Pouring out your heart before the Lord in sincerity can be a refreshing experience.

Don't be like the people mentioned in Isaiah 28:11-12, "For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear." Instead, embrace the refreshing of the Holy Spirit daily in your life. Seek to be in God's presence as much as you can.

As you tackle the demands of this week, seek to be refreshed by God's presence. Also, try to be a refreshing and a blessing to someone else.