“I was over at Sally’s Second Turn Books yesterday,” Stan mentioned one morning. “She called and told me that a used book I’ve been looking for was available so I went over to see about picking it up if the condition and price were right.”
“Did you get the book?” I asked.
“Sure did. It looks like it has hardly been opened. Great condition. Can’t imagine why because it’s a real classic about how to know God in a deeper way.”
“In any event,” he continued, “while I was waiting to pay for the book, I was looking at an old magazine Sally had on the counter. It was one clear back to 1940. Kind of ragged and torn, but it had an ad for a soft drink that really caught my eye.”
“In what way?”
“It was about being refreshed if a person would pause to drink what they were selling.”
“Oh,” I said, “the old pause that refreshes.”
“That’s it,” Stan replied. “And it struck me that they had the right message, but the wrong focus.”
“In what way?”
“I can be refreshed, but I have to pause from what I’m doing and focus on being refreshed by what God has for me, not on what the world might seek to offer as refreshment.”
Continuing, he added, “We all need to be refreshed by what God has for us. He has made clear the availability of His refreshment in both the Old Testament and in the New, but it’s also clear that His refreshment is too often ignored.”
“If God has refreshment available,” I asked, “why wouldn’t everyone take advantage of that?”
“Probably lots of reasons,” Stan replied. “Maybe they don’t know it’s available. Maybe they just prefer to pursue being refreshed on their own, thinking that what the world offers is better than what God has to offer. I don’t know for certain about all the other people, I just know about the person I know best—and I know that I often choose to go it on my own rather than to pause from where I am to seek all of the refreshment that God has for me.”
Concluding, he added, “I know that when I pause to be refreshed in that way, I’m always refreshed to the depths of my being!”
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Bible verses to consider:
Come unto Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28.
For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh every one who languishes. Jeremiah 31:25.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Psalm 23:1-3.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for all of your provision to refresh me when I am weary. Thank you for wanting me to pause to be refreshed by you. Too often, I seek to be refreshed by the world and by things other than what you have for me. Please forgive that foolishness. Please help me in following your lead so I seek only you and what you have to refresh me. Thank you I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Think on this: We all grow weary and need to be refreshed from time to time. What we choose for refreshment is crucial. Do you agree with that? Why or why not? What do you seek for refreshment when you are tired and weary? Is that what you think God would like you to seek? Why or why not? If you sense you are not seeking all of the refreshment God has for you, do you know how to change that?
Waiting for the Train 