LFCC Loving Life Fall 2015 Magazine volume 9 | Page 12

My Season of Refreshing
by
Audrey Thomas

When I was thinking about what to submit for this
newsletter, I went completely blank. Then I went into
prayer. It was there that God reminded me that I did have
something to say. I still didn’t understand until He revealed
to me that, just like the church, I am also in a season of refreshing. It sure doesn’t feel like it,
considering that I just lost my job and I have been struggling in my body for the past couple
of months.
It’s a peculiar thing; this season of refreshing, because it’s often the hardest season of
our lives and enjoying it may be difficult. It doesn’t always look like a good season, and it
doesn’t always feel like a good season; yet it’s one of the best seasons to be a part of. It’s the
season where new beginnings take place. It’s the season where we take the time to sit and
reflect on what’s been and on what’s to come. It’s the season that prepares us for the greater
in our lives.
When I look around me, I see a lot of people in my life that are in a season of
refreshing. I see church members overcoming catastrophic illnesses, family members overcoming devastating marital failures, neighbors losing all they have and college students
scrambling to begin their adulthood. But, somehow, God has delivered them with such grace
that just baffles the mind and now they have an attitude of gratitude that permeates their
every conversation. It makes you wonder, how can they enjoy the suffering?
Then I thought back on a time when my suffering was just as overwhelming. It was
there that I turned to God for a complete overhaul of my life, and for my faith, I was given a
complete refreshing. The refreshing was not just for my body, which was broken; and not just
for my soul, which was wounded; and not even for my finances, which were diminished to
nothing. But I received the gift of salvation and from that one gift; I have received so much
more. I received God’s very presence to lead and guide me. In reflection, I can remember
how God delivered me then, and from that experience I have a greater faith that He will
deliver me now.
In spite of the obstacles I will face, I get to rejoice because I hope to see the salvation
of the Lord once again. I don’t know what it will look like or feel like, but I do trust God that
it will work together for my good, just as he promised. So I’ve decided just to take a deep
breath, focus on the last thing God told me to do, and rest in my spirit while I wait on the
Lord to renew my strength. I acknowledge this is a season of refreshing for me, but more
than that; it a season where I get to renew my faith in God. As Hebrews 11:1 reminds, “Now
faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (NIV).