Refreshing Remedy

I came in the door and dumped my stuff on a chair. It had been a tough few days and I felt exhausted. Then I noticed the note on the table from my roommate that invited me to grab the smoothie she’d made for me from the fridge and to join her on the back porch for some time in a hammock to enjoy the evening scenery. I smiled and grabbed the smoothie she’d made for me. It smelled of sweet fresh strawberries, banana and pineapple. What a perfect end to the day. My roommate knew just how to cheer me up even when she herself had been very sick for the last week. I thanked God for such a thoughtful roommate and headed out to the back deck. I breathed in deep as the screen door swung shut behind me. The evening air was fresh and the view was amazing.

     I turned to my roommate with a look of gratitude. “Thank you,” I said, “I really needed this.” It was true. I’d had a really tough few days and, in the generous and encouraging way that typifies her, my friend had found a perfect way to refresh me. In the last few days I had been on call, took a call in the middle of the night that found me at the clinic all night and into the morning, heard some hard news from the USA, and helped with a patient who’d sustained some severe trauma, just to list a few of the events of the last few days. But God, in his sweet love and grace that takes our hand each day, had sent my friend the idea for exactly what I needed to lift my spirits.

Proverbs says, “[…]those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed” (Proverbs 11:25b NLT). I am finding more and more how true that verse really is in day-to-day life, on the mission field or in my home country. Often I drudge through the day and feel sapped by the end of it, thanking God I’ve just survived. However, when I seek to encourage and refresh others the Lord often refreshes me. So, as I sipped my smoothie I thanked God for reminding me of His goodness through my roommate and for reminding me to refresh others often, because you never know when they need it most.