How God’s Word Revives & Refreshes

Learn how the practice of reading scripture has the power to renew your mind and ease the heaviness of life.

There are moments in life as a believer when it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. Moments when you think “how can I possibly go on?” ⁣
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It can feel like a snowball effect – one thing, after another, after another, like everything is coming down around you at once. ⁣

I experienced these feelings when I got laid off from my job and when my PawPaw passed unexpectedly. I had never lost anyone close to me or an immediate family member and assumed that when the day came, everything would be fine. The intense sadness and confusion that accompanied his death and the subsequent thoughts of “what is my purpose?” after I lost my job caught me completely off guard.
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But isn’t it just like our amazing Heavenly Father to use this time of sorrow and heaviness to show me just how much I desperately need Him? It’s in these moments of heaviness that God can become more real to us than He has ever been before.
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We have a choice when the storms of life seem to be crashing around us, when grief comes knocking at our door and when our reality doesn’t look at all like we thought it would:⁣
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• Will we look to Jesus or will we blame Him? ⁣
• Will we cling to His word and promises or will we believe the lie of the enemy that He has forsaken us? ⁣
• Will we press in and talk to Him or will we shut Him out because we are disappointed He did not respond to our prayer in the way we wanted? ⁣
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Yesterday, I was talking to a sweet woman in the faith who has experienced tremendous loss. She told me that she often felt like God was holding her in His arms, saying “I know this hurts. This is going to be the hardest season of your life but good will come out of this.” She looked at me and said that in her grief, an awareness of the power of the gospel came to her like never before. ⁣
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It was actually her grief that birthed a thankfulness for the gospel and life after death that she would not have otherwise had. Her prayers in sadness turned into prayers of thankfulness!⁣

You may be in a similar season right now. You may be having a hard time trusting God or pressing in. God reminded me recently that His word has the power to revive and refresh us. His word is living, breathing, active and powerful!⁣

I lie in the dust; revive me by your word. (Psalm 119:25, NLT)

So, how can God’s word revive and refresh you?

1. It is alive. Hebrews 4:12 says, “God’s word is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
2. It’s tried, tested and true. God’s word has been around for thousands of years yet still holds significant weight in the lives of many.
3. It’s a roadmap. Every answer to life is found in the Bible. There’s something very comforting about that.
4. It restores. When your mind is racing with anxiousness, the truth of God’s word has the power to bring your mind back to a place of peace. No matter how heavy life feels, you feel lighter when you read God’s promises in scripture.

Scripture is referred to as the sword of the spirit (Ephesians 6:17). Why a sword? Because, it helps us fight off lies from the enemy and from the world. Scripture is the only truth there is and it’s powerful enough to revive and refresh us like nothing else can.

In Him,