A FRIEND'S REFRESHING

A FRIEND’S REFRESHING
A generous man will prosper;
he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
Proverbs 11:25 (NIV)

Have you ever been sick?  Have you ever been tired?  Have you ever been sick and tired?  You know, when your body sends your brain a message that you have been burning the candle at both ends and perhaps you need to stop for a good refueling.  But you ignore that inner prompting and keep right on burning both ends of the candle until you begin to sputter and fizzle and your light has all but gone out.   

I sat at the Well wrapped snugly in my favorite throw as I sipped my coffee.  I read the words about refreshing and being refreshed and decided to see how another version of His book put it…it’s helpful to have more than one translation handy when you sit at His feet.  The NASB put it this way…”he who waters will himself be watered.”

“It’s important to be well hydrated,” His voice thundered through the predawn stillness, stirring my heart awake.

I knew He was referring to hydration of the Living Water kind and not the temporary refreshing that comes from the kitchen tap.  Only Living Water is able to penetrate the dryness and go deep—heart deep.  Sometimes we can be in such a state that we find ourselves face down in the dust unable to even ask for water.

I was in just such a dry place last week.  I had been burning the candle at both ends.  I decided to leave home without eating the Bread of Life and drinking the Living Water found only in the pages of His Book.  I was going to work early and staying late.  I told myself it was only temporary and I could do it.  Friends had been commenting how tired I looked for days, but I shrugged off their words  and kept right on burning that candle until the wick began to smoke and sputter and had all but gone out.

“I sent friends to help,” He said.

I nodded quietly as I remembered how I had been sitting at my desk the previous week in a weary fog.  My heart was lying in the dust all dried and shriveled and on top of everything else, I had been fighting a sore throat for two days.  I was tired.  I was sick.  My heart was dehydrated.  To quote a friend, “I was a hot mess.”

A few friends and co-laborers in Christ walked into my office and announced that they had come to help. They were sending me home to have dinner with my husband.  The tasks I was carrying, they were taking on themselves—even though they were extremely busy with their own workload.  Funny, I hadn’t noticed the Living Water they were carrying when they walked into my office, but as they spoke it was as if they were pouring water onto the dry ground of my soul.  It flowed from a source unseen by human eyes.  It flowed right past my prideful excuses.  It pushed the tasks, the “I think I need to’s” and the “shoulds” right out of the way.  It flowed in streams through these Jesus lovers, straight to my heart.

I recalled the part in John 15 where Jesus was admonishing the disciples to abide in Him.  He had said, “…apart from Me you can do nothing.”

“Lord,” I cried, “it’s true.  I know it’s true.  Forgive me for thinking and acting as though I could do ministry or anything else on my own – without You!  I don’t want to be a dried up fruitless branch.”

I read the words in both translations again.

A generous man will prosper;
 he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
Proverbs 11:25 (NIV)

The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered.
Proverbs 11:25 (NASB)

As I read His Words from His Book I felt His Living Water do its hydrating work in my heart.

I thought of each friend who had come to my aid at the Lord’s request that day.  You see they could have simply walked into my office and told me to go home and then gone back to what they were doing (James 2:15-17 speaks of this).   But they coupled their kind words with a great act of love.  You see they saw with their eyes that I was bone weary, they found out what was needed and then they gave legs to their words.  In sending me home, they put aside their work and their evening plans, took on my task and helped a great team accomplish a rather daunting project.

Our pastor knew that the people on this team would need food so he and his wife bought dinner and took it to the team.  They walked into that room with much more than food for bodies - they carried Living Water which the Lord poured out through them onto His much loved kids to refresh and revive tired hearts as they worked. If you are quiet you can almost hear the Living Water rushing like a river.

As the sun began to rise from its place of slumber, I turned the words of Proverbs 11:25 into a prayer for each friend who had been a carrier of Refreshing Living Water that day.

“Lord, thank you for friend’s name, prosper them in their work, in their relationships and more importantly in their relationship with You.  May they flourish under Your care and bear much fruit.  As they watered my life and refreshed my weary heart, refresh them today.  Lord, now that I have been a receiver of refreshing water, help me to be generous with my talent and time as I pour into the lives of others today, that they too may be refreshed as only You can do.  Amen.”

Dear one, what about you?  Are you in a place of dryness and in need of refreshing?  Turn to the Word of God – where Living Water flows freely and brings refreshing to dry and weary hearts.  Perhaps you are in a place where you are spiritually dehydrated.  You are face down in the dust and physically, emotionally exhausted—a weariness that goes heart deep.  My sweet friend, I pray today that the Lord would send friends to your aid and through their kindness the Lord would pour out water of the Living kind bringing heart deep refreshment.

May we in turn carry Living Water to others today and be a source of refreshment in word and deed.  In Jesus’ name and for His glory!

An Original Conversations at the Well
© Copyright by Diana Morgan  November 2, 2012