“The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be
refreshed.”
Years ago, I suffered from some very low points. These were some of
the darkest moments of my life. I felt weighted down by all my wrong
decisions and bad choices. Self-condemnation was my middle name and many of my
nights were sleepless. I always wished that time would speed up so I could
bypass nighttime hours. I dreaded the thought of going to bed at night because
I’d just lay there, with regretful thoughts of my past, and they made me feel
so bad.
Thinking about those times today, I’m very thankful for my family. I
tried to focus on them as much as possible, because it made me feel better
about things. With concern, I’ve wondered about people that feel worse than I
did at that time in my life. I pray they also have family or friends to bring
comfort that will help them feel better. But I also pray that they will heed
the invitation of Jesus Christ. He invites them to bring their burdens to him.
He offers to give us rest for our souls in a way that only he can.
Jesus Christ said in John 15:8(NLT), “When you produce much fruit,
you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” To
produce fruit is to share the Good News of the Gospel with someone that doesn’t
yet know the person of Jesus Christ. When we tell people about Jesus Christ and
the salvation that he offers because of what he accomplished for us on the
cross, we secure the opening that allows the love of God to be introduced into
the person’s life. We can’t cause a person to saved; that’s not our call. God
tells us in Ephesians 1:4 that He chose us to be in Christ even before the
foundation of the World. He chose us first, not the other way around. So, when
we share the Good News about Jesus Christ, we are planting a seed. God is the
One that does the watering. He causes the sun to shine upon those who need His
light. As His children, He commands us to be ambassadors of Christ. He expects
that we will open our mouths when He tells us too, and that we will speak a
life changing Word into the lives of those that He has chosen.
During the times that I lacked confidence; I didn't believe I had
anything to give towards the ministry of Jesus Christ. I felt too bad about
myself and about everything around me, but God showed me through His Word that
I don’t belong to myself, I belong to Him; we all do. We were created for His
purpose, not our own. He knows the path we should be on so that we can have a
wonderful relationship with Him through Christ, and so that we can have a life
that isn’t filled with darkness but filled with the light of Christ. We need to
allow Him to lead and guide us, and we need to be willing to patiently and
humbly follow Him.
God doesn’t see us the way we see ourselves. Ephesians 2:10 tells us
that we are God’s masterpiece. He made us new creations in Christ Jesus, and He
did this so that you and I could do all the good things that He planned for us.
I prayed fervently that God would hear my cries and let His love come into my
darkest places. It didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen. I placed my hand
in His hand and surrendered myself to be led by Him. He did not disappoint, for
it is impossible for God to fail.
I asked the Father to show me opportunities that would help me feel
better about my life and the gift I knew He had given me. Little did I know
that He would answer this prayer by leading me to be a blessing to someone. The
company where I work had just hired someone new. She is a bright young woman
and is full of energy, but of course she was nervous about beginning a new
position. Well, her new boss was very demanding, and had given her a task that
she considered to be completely outside her level of skill. On that day, I was
in our break room heating a cup of tea, and we struck up a conversation. She
began to share how happy she was to have landed a good job but wasn't sure how
to handle the new pressures of her position. I offered her a few tips, and
said, "Don't worry about what you can't control. Do your very best,
pray that it's good enough, and allow God to do the rest."
I didn't know this woman's background or whether she knew the Lord,
but I truly felt in my soul that I had been in the right place at the right
time, and that I had made a difference for her that day. I didn’t have to leap
a tall building, or even stand before lots of people and teach the bible, I
just had to use what God has given me very plainly and in my day to day life.
After bumping into each other a few days later, she said to me, "You
don't know how much your kindness has meant to me." She had been
refreshed because I encouraged her in the Lord, and I had been refreshed in an
amazing way myself. I thought, “What if I had chosen to let self-doubt rule
the day; I might not have spoken a word to this young woman, but I’m so glad
that God allowed me to be a blessing to her.” Things that we consider to be
so small and insignificant can make all the difference in someone’s life. We
have to remember who we are, whose we are, and what we mean to God. He has
called us to be lights in this dark world, and He had given us everything we
need to do it. All we need to do is listen to His voice, and open our mouths to
speak about the goodness of God and the salvation our Lord Jesus Christ offers.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New
Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Those Who Refresh Others Will be Refreshed”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com©
2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ,
our Lord and Savior.
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