Moments to Refresh

The voice of a rushing water drowns out the noise around me.  The world fades away.  The busy and hectic schedules drift past in a faded memory, the madness of the speed in which we spin.  The music of God’s creation fills my ear (or at least the one that still works lol) as I listen to the melody being played.  I watch the pools of water swirling.  Happy hearts bubbling with joy, they team together holding hands as currents glide downstream rejoicing.  The smell of life in its richness mixes together, competing for which aroma will resonate my senses to awakening.  Crisp.  Cool.  I dare not touch the water; I know it to be freezing.  A beautiful bright yellow friend comes and goes, ever circling around in a shy dance of fluttering.  She welcomes me here.  This butterfly does not want her picture taken.  I snap a few shots as she eludes me, only to reappear moments later with the same smile, same dance.  A dogwood bloomed in glory bathes in the sunlight directly across from me.  None compare to the elegance she is dressed with.  The sun tiptoes between the cotton clouds above me.  Hit or miss, it warms my skin.  I also soak it in.  

Sometimes the Word of God is so practical that we miss things in it.

I’m sure I’m not alone.  I’m sure that there are people all across the world that can identify with me today.  We run ragged in this day and age.  The things that we face in 2021 seem to come at us in such fast pace that our legs, mind, and body can’t keep up.  At least for me, it seems the world spins faster than I can match stride with.  Just this morning, I had to call a company who jipped me on a charge they promised wouldn’t happen, order new contacts from my eye doctor, deal with a leaky sink, and stand up for myself with customer service representative on issues with my accident and case from when I was injured.  For some, that list might seem small.  For me, a man with a brain injury, even one of those things is enough to spin my head into orbit.  For us living in this day and age, it seems like there is never enough time in the day to get things crossed of our list and check all the boxes in our to-do’s.  We are terribly busy.

But where does that bring us?

Are you one of the millions that can’t seem to get enough into your day?  Are you stressed from every side?  Are things calling you, tapping you on the shoulder, demanding your attention, or pressing you so badly that your days seem to blur?

Sometimes, we need refreshed.  It is that plain and simple.

Today, I had a day by myself.  School is in session.  My wife left this morning to help clean for a friend.  One would think that the day would be easy without distraction.  I was eager and excited to work on my next novel. It's been a while since I touched it.  Poised and ready for a great day, the world then knocked on my door.  My expectations went unmet.

Brain injuries are easy to rattle.

When I get overwhelmed, I’ve got to take the time to do what resets me.  Though you might not have a TBI, in the reality of this subject or topic, you and I are actually no different. Stress gets us all.

I was stressed.  So I got in my truck and drove of my favorite drives in the whole world.  I’m not sure why, but something about this particular drive just does it for me.  When the road cuts through the pines and weaves up the base of the mountains, I began to look around at all the nature God created for us to enjoy.  After cruising a while, listening to a Zac Williams song that met me in my worn out state, I turned around, looking for a place to park.  

The road is split.  A river runs through it.  I walked down the bank with my bag and chair.  It is an oasis of refreshment unknown to the world.

The water rushes by.  I could watch the foam and fizz of rapids for hours.

I got out my Mac and turned my hotspot on.  I looked up verses about refreshment.  Pretty interesting how God does things.  Check out the passage I was led to!  Keep in mind that King David was fleeing for his life at the time; he was actually running from his own son.  Now that I think about it, his life was pretty crazy even before that.  Chaos had chased him earlier in life as he ran for his life from Saul as well.  One might say that David was “running ragged.”

2 Samuel 16:5-14 

When King David came to Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came he cursed continually. And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man! The Lord has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood.”

Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.” But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’” And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today.” So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust. And the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived weary at the Jordan. And there he refreshed himself.

And so I ask you: are you weary as well?  Does it seem like when you turn from one problem you only encounter another?  Are you spinning, not knowing which way to turn?  Does relief elude you?

David and his men most certainly felt the same.  It was bad enough that they were running from Absalom.  The throne was rightfully David’s.  His kingdom was secure.  But David’s life was a constant drama, like it or not.  He was running from his own son.  To make things worse, in his low despair, he was now actually having stones and curses thrown at him.  Now that is stressful!

So what do we do?

What did David do?

It may seem small or insignificant, but the very last verse that I included from the passage above speaks volumes to me.  “And the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived weary at the Jordan. And there he refreshed himself.”

I did the same today.

I’ve never been to the Jordan river.  But I do sit here in Ligonier, Pennsylvania beside a river of my own.  Can the Bible be so practical that we miss its message and insight?  Could doing something so simple and easy be so profound and effective?  

David went to the Jordan.  The Bible doesn’t say what he did.  For that reason, I don’t believe we need to really know. He could have gone swimming.  He could have flung off his flip-flops and stuck his toes in the sand and relaxed.  For all we know he could have just sat on the banks and enjoyed the sound like I am.  Maybe it was the peacefulness of the creation God made that brought an awareness to him that God was still in control.  Maybe the sights and smells brought him closer to God, as it is me.

Maybe it is that simple. 

Someone once said, “don’t be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good.”  I’m not sure where that originated from or the condition of the soul that spoke it, but there is great truth to the phrase.  The Bible itself just told us something beautiful that can help us when we feel overwhelmed.  It was so simple and easy that it took me 43 years to see it printed in black and white.  Easy, right? Will we take the advice? If the Bible had told you something hard, something monumental, something expensive, would you have done it?  If all it said was that David went and sat down by the river and got away from stress, would we still fight such a simple suggestion?  Are we willing to take what God provides?

And so, I sit here.  And I think.  And I am reminded of God’s faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:21-23

But this I call to mind,

and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

My challenge to you today is to get outside.  If you are stressed or weary or pressed from every side, get out where none of that matters and rest beside the nature God provided you with.  Go for a walk in a park.  Go sit at the ocean or lakeside.  If you’re crazy, like me, take your folding chair and computer and go sit in between two highways where the river flows and you can hear the voice of God.  Get out.  Breathe.  Take scripture in its purest essence of simplicity and do what it says helped other people.  David picked the Jordan.  You pick what works for you.

Your situation might not immediately change.

Absalom might still be chasing you.

But refreshment is worth a price far above what we realize.  

Refresh your soul.  Energize your spirit.  Get out and alone and sit by the Jordan with God.

He will be more than glad to refresh you.  

The voice of a rushing water drowns out the noise around me.  The world fades away.  The business and hectic schedules drift in a faded memory, the madness of the speed in which we spin.  The music of God’s creation fills my ear (or at least the one that still works lol) as I listen to the melody being played.  I watch the pools of water swirling.  Happy hearts bubbling with joy, they team together holding hands as currents glide downstream rejoicing.  The smell of life in its richness mixes together, competing for which aroma will resonate my senses to awakening.  Crisp.  Cool.  I dare not touch the water; I know it to be freezing.  A beautiful bright yellow friend comes and goes, ever circling around in a shy dance of fluttering.  She welcomes me here.  This butterfly does not want her picture taken.  I snap a few shots as she eludes me, only to reappear moments later with the same smile, same dance.  A dogwood bloomed in glory bathes in the sunlight directly across from me.  None compare to the elegance she is dressed with.  The sun tiptoes between the cotton clouds above me.  Hit or miss, it warms my skin.  I also soak it in.  

I am refreshed.

I might just stay a while.

By Chuck Carr.