Refresh – give new strength or energy to; reinvigorate

Proverbs 11 has lots of good, happy advice, like:

The righteous person is rescued from trouble (8)

Those who are kind benefit themselves (17)

One person gives freely, yet gains even more (24)

The happy verse that really caught my attention though, was verse 25, “Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”

While we all like to be refreshed from time to time, I don’t think that we think a lot about that word, or that concept. At least I didn’t until I read Proverbs 11.

When I think of being refreshed, I think of liquid refreshment, mainly water. One time, years ago, when I lived in the U.S. I was driving and began to feel nauseous, and then I was sure I was going to vomit, so I pulled into a gas station, and parked at the edge, next to a fence. I got out and sure enough I was soon throwing up. I felt terrible; weak and sick. Then a man who lived in the house next to the gas station, approached the fence with a glass of water and handed it to me. What a surprise! What a good Samaritan he was. I drank the water, thanked the man, and within minutes felt greatly refreshed.

On another occasion, about eight years ago, here at the home for children in Oaxaca, Mexico, almost all of the staff had come together to help mix concrete and lay the foundation for a new school. Some were shoveling sand. Others putting gravel into buckets. One guy was running the cement mixer while another put buckets of water in. A few of us were laboring with the wheel barrows, taking the concrete where it need to go. After about an hour we were all worn out and extremely thirsty. And then my wife made a very welcomed appearance. She was the kitchen supervisor and she brought us pitchers of lemonade, which we gratefully guzzled. After the refreshment and a short break, we all felt what? REFRESHED! And with new found energy we went back to the task at hand. Physically, we had new strength.

People also need to be refreshed emotionally. Everyday someone suffers a heart ache over the death of a loved one, or heartbreak from a broken relationship. There are dozens of reasons people feel down emotionally, and sometimes God can use us to refresh those who suffer disappointment or depression. We can feel directed to offer a hug, word of encouragement, or a shoulder to cry on. That can refresh a person, even if only temporarily.

People need to be refreshed spiritually as well. There are those who once felt close to God, now feel that he is a long way off, absent, missing in action. They too are suffering, and God can nudge us to offer some spiritual refreshment; perhaps a card with an uplifting verse or a listening ear and a timely prayer.

And, according to Proverbs 11:25, not only will the one we reach out to, be refreshed, but also the one who does the refreshing will be refreshed. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

“Repent and turn to God, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19,20

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