"Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints." Philemon 1:7(NIV)
When I was a little girl, we took a trip to California. Our drive led us through the Nevada desert. I remember how sweltering hot it was during the day and how freezing cold it became at night. The car didn't have an air conditioner or a heater, so we felt the extremes of both.
We seemed to be traveling an endless road with nowhere to stop. No restaurants, no gas stations, no hotels, no Zippy Marts. Nothing. Just a dry desert. When all of a sudden, in the hazy distance, we spotted what appeared to be a gas station. In the middle of nowhere, it stood out like an oasis and we couldn't wait to get there.
We pulled into the seemingly abandoned building and waited to see if there was anyone there. An old man flung the door open wide, welcomed us and began pumping our gas, cleaning our windshields and talking a mile a minute.
We made our way up the steps of the building and began to open the door. The cold air brought a smile to our faces. We loitered there for about thirty minutes, buying peanut brittle and bubble gum and looking for anything else we could find to extend our time there. We didn't want to leave, but it was time.
We said good-bye to the nice man who had invited us into his world and allowed his gas station to become a temporary refuge for our little family. We left refreshed and ready to make the last leg of our trip, thankful for that oasis in the desert.
Everyday, we have the opportunity to speak life into someone else's life, to encourage them, to be an oasis in the desert places of their lives, to be a blanket of warmth in the cold, dark circumstances of someone's world. Let the words you speak and the things you do be something that makes others want to linger.
Today, ask the Lord to give you an opportunity to refresh someone's soul, to help someone in need, to respond with love to someone's situation. Be an oasis in someone's life today.
Perhaps you need to be refreshed. Saturate yourself in the oasis of God's Word. Bask in the beauty of His presence. Find a friend who will pray for you, who will pray with you, who you know will refresh you with her words.
Do you need an oasis of prayer? I'd be honored to pray for you as you face a dessert place in your life.
How can you be a refreshing oasis for someone else today? Give us some practical advice. Share your story.
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