Oh Sweet Summer Rain...

I'm sitting on the couch listening to the rain and looking at how refreshed the earth looks.  It reminds me of how I feel after getting hot, sweaty and dirty and then taking a nice cool shower.  Refreshed!

Lately I have been struggling with feeling refreshed.  I woke up yesterday morning feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and frustrated.  I sat down and read my Bible for the first time in several weeks.  I didn't even know where to start so I looked at the Bible Reading Plan on our church website and found that the reading was Proverbs 4.  This is what I read:

Proverbs 4

A Father's Instruction

    ¹Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father,
         And give attention that you may gain understanding,
    ²For I give you sound teaching;
         Do not abandon my instruction.
    ³When I was a son to my father,
         Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,
    ⁴Then he taught me and said to me,
         "Let your heart hold fast my words;
         Keep my commandments and live;
    ⁵Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding!
         Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
    ⁶"Do not forsake her, and she will guard you;
         Love her, and she will watch over you.
    ⁷"The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom;
         And with all your acquiring, get understanding.
    ⁸"Prize her, and she will exalt you;
         She will honor you if you embrace her.
    ⁹"She will place on your head a garland of grace;
         She will present you with a crown of beauty."
    ¹⁰Hear, my son, and accept my sayings
         And the years of your life will be many.
    ¹¹I have directed you in the way of wisdom;
         I have led you in upright paths.
    ¹²When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;
         And if you run, you will not stumble.
    ¹³Take hold of instruction; do not let go
         Guard her, for she is your life.
    ¹⁴Do not enter the path of the wicked
         And do not proceed in the way of evil men.
    ¹⁵Avoid it, do not pass by it;
         Turn away from it and pass on.
    ¹⁶For they cannot sleep unless they do evil;
         And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.
    ¹⁷For they eat the bread of wickedness
         And drink the wine of violence.
    ¹⁸But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
         That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
    ¹⁹The way of the wicked is like darkness;
         They do not know over what they stumble.
    ²⁰My son, give attention to my words;
         Incline your ear to my sayings.
    ²¹Do not let them depart from your sight;
         Keep them in the midst of your heart.
    ²²For they are life to those who find them
         And health to all their body.
    ²³Watch over your heart with all diligence,
         For from it flow the springs of life.
    ²⁴Put away from you a deceitful mouth
         And put devious speech far from you.
    ²⁵Let your eyes look directly ahead
         And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.
    ²⁶Watch the path of your feet
         And all your ways will be established.
    ²⁷Do not turn to the right nor to the left;
         Turn your foot from evil.

Those first two verses hit my heart like knife.  I realized that I had not been acquiring wisdom because I haven't been sitting with Jesus.  I haven't gone to church because somehow or another I have been recovering from surgery, sick, or out of town.  I had abandoned instruction. I realized at that moment that I was preventing myself from being refreshed.  It's like I wasn't bathing.  Gross picture, huh?

After confessing this to Jesus and seeking repentance the next few verses gave me encouragement: ¹²When you walk, your steps will not be impeded;
         And if you run, you will not stumble.
    ¹³Take hold of instruction; do not let go
         Guard her, for she is your life.

How beautiful to read that when you are acquiring wisdom nothing will keep you from it, and that you should guard wisdom, for it gives you life.  How often I have wondered what is keeping me from really experiencing what Christ has to offer, and neglecting my relationship with Him is what is preventing me from being refreshed.

So after my sweet time with Jesus, I talked to my friend in real estate about some ideas to get our house sold.  It comes back to staging, and getting rid of clutter that you don't realize is there but a buyer would.  So Paul and I spent sometime just cleaning and getting rid of clutter, and putting away pictures so a buyer could come in and see the house as their house and not ours.  Another refreshment.  And now I sit here soaked as I had to go to the grocery store with 2 kids in the rain, but reminded that Christ is my refreshment, and the sweet summer rain is my reminder.  Amen!