“Wonderful times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:20 NLT.
Satisfaction of soul will never be found apart from Jesus.
My thoughts and comments today are about “wells of refreshing.”
My friend, Campbell, said to me many years ago, “Abraham’s journey is marked by milestones of obedience and altars of consecration.” That has been a guiding understanding for me. Abraham’s journey began with a severe obedience that extended across his lifetime. See Genesis 22:1-19. Such uncommon obedience provides a path to a Godly, selfless life of consecration. A life without sacrifice is a life without fulfillment or reward. Everywhere on his journey, Abraham pitched a tent, built an altar, and dug a well. To Campbell’s description, I would add another aspect, “wells of refreshing.”
What comes to mind when you consider the word, “refreshing” – maybe clear direction, or renewed hope, or fresh start, or greater peace, or new joy? When something is lacking, you need refreshing. Usually, a person feels their need but doesn’t know their own answer, but God does. The process begins with your relationship with God. “Create in me a clean heart and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10.
Abraham became a man of great wealth, evidenced by his herds and flocks as well as the large company of servants and herdsmen to care for all he possessed. The land necessitated the digging of wells wherever they settled, however briefly. See Genesis 12:16/13:2-6. Wells are a necessary source of refreshing. When your spiritual life is lacking enjoyment and your burdens grow heavy, you need to know how to dig, “wells of refreshing.”
Little mention is made of Abraham’s wells, until after his death. “The Philistines had stopped up all the wells of Abraham . . Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father.” Read Genesis 26:15/18-21 NKJV. Abraham dug wells for His own and others’ refreshing, and for the generation to come. Protect the sources from which God provides refreshing – God’s Word, prayer, worship, obedience, fellowship, and serving. Leave a Godly legacy and spiritual inheritance for those who will follow.
The enemy of your soul desires to destroy all that spiritually refreshes and re-energizes you. Repeatedly, the Philistines contested the wells where Isaac and those with him sought refreshing, but Isaac would not be dissuaded. See Genesis 26:22-25. Jesus offers, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive.” John 7:37-39 NIV. The promise remains true, “Wonderful times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:20 NLT.
You might feel spiritually drained, even physically and emotionally exhausted. You may be experiencing a dry time in barren places, where progress seems slow and nothing comes easily. Years earlier, someone assured me, “God will not let you walk through a desert season without first teaching you how to dig a well – if you have been paying attention.” Satisfaction of soul will never be found apart from Jesus. To a woman drawing water at a well, Jesus offered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14 NIV.
Today, my prayer for you is to be refreshed in your body, soul, and spirit – with joy and satisfaction.