Saturday – Open Topic

Reading – Isaiah 4:2-6

Highlight Verse:

“It will be a shelter from daytime heat and a hiding place from storms and rain.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It is summer. And how!

Our normally reasonable temperatures here in Colorado have been peaking above 90° F all week and will likely stay that way for another week.

Of course, I walk through the heat to my air-conditioned van and then walk into my air-conditioned workplace and come home to an air-conditioned home.

Life’s rough.

It was almost rough in my childhood.

I grew up in Fresno where most summer days peaked over 100° F. Sometimes over 110° F. We traveled in an old VW bus with no AC. It was hot. But we made it through just fine.

Neither of those situations could hold a melted candle to the heat of the Middle East.

And according to Isaiah, the Lord was a shelter from the heat of that desert land.

Here’s how I see it.

Imagine the hottest day you’ve lived through. I mean outside, not in the shelter of air conditioning.

You’re hot and sweaty. The heat seems to sear your lungs. You are perpetually thirsty no matter how much water you drink.

And then you step into an air-conditioned room. Or, if you prefer, you plunge into a cool swimming pool.

You are refreshed.

On a spiritual and emotional level, that is what it is like to lay your burdens down at the feet of Jesus.

When you trust Him with your life, your spirit is refreshed.

I am not saying that everyday is paradise once you trust Jesus.

But when you need it and seek it, God will supply times of refreshing to quench your spiritual thirst and strengthen your spirit.

Allow yourself to trust Him for that refreshment and see what He can do.

When has God given you great times of refreshing?
Are you in need of that right now?
If so, what keeps you from that refreshing?