And Refresh

We all reach that point. 

The point where we feel like we have nothing more to give. You feel stuck and dissatisfied. I want to get out of this hole that you are in. You long to be refreshed.

You have been there, maybe you are there now. I have been there. We have all been there. I was asked to share a few words about this very topic the other night and here is what the Lord laid on my heart 3 steps to being refreshed.

Reflect

First of all reflect. Where are you at? Sometimes that is the hardest question to answer. There have been times where I could not for the life of me come up with an answer for that question. Life happens so fast and we are many times just caught in the torrent of it. We need to take time and gage where we are. What is God doing in your life? The truth is, God is always at work in our lives, but rarely do we recognize it because we are not looking. If we can stop and reflect on what God is doing we might just find what has been the source of our frustration is just about to be used for God's glory.

Renew

There are two parts to this. We need to be renewed and then renew ourselves. First we need to be renewed. This comes through prayer and time in God's presence. Psalm 51:10-13 is a passage that I make my prayer almost on a daily basis.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.

Pray this prayer that asks God to give you a pure heart, pure motives, a steadfast spirit to persevere, restore the joy of being saved, and a willing spirit. As Christ followers we have often received a lot of criticism and blame for the way we treat others. We should not be surprised by this, Jesus warned us of this when he told us to love each other, because this is how the world will know that we are his followers. But perhaps the reason Christians have a bad track record is because we are just going through the motions of life & faith. One of my sayings is “fake it till you make it.” But all too often this is what Christians are doing in their life & with their faith. They are running on old oil. What would happen if a car was running on old oil? It would definitely not be operating at high performance. How can we expect any different in our lives and in our relationship with Christ. We need an oil change; We don't just need to pour in new oil, but empty the old and put in new. Psalm 51:10-13 is that prayer. Renew me Lord.

The second part of this is renew yourself. Do what energizes you. Take a scenic walk if you are energized by being alone. Go for coffee with a good friend if people energize you. Write. Write down your dreams. Do something that will ignite you again. It really is so important.

Restart

The next thing we have to do is start again. Too many times we continue to fall back or just never start again. We continue to walk down a path of discouragement and we are constantly overwhelmed and stressed out. That does not sound like the victorious life that God called us to and Christ died to give us. Start again afresh and anew and don't look back. There is a time of refreshing ahead of you, just reflect, renew, and restart.

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