It’s the middle of summer, and my soul feels a bit weary.
I’ve been working hard in the garden and around the homestead, and life is starting to feel a bit like a never-ending circus. A bit like never-ending work. Every time I look over my upcoming task list, I feel a bit more of the "grumble" surfacing. I want a cold drink, a quiet book in the shade, and for everyone to stop asking me questions for 24 hours. (With 11 kids, 2 interns, and a business or two, I get asked about 3 million questions a day.)
Even though gardening is one of my favorite things to do, I’m not feeling it right now with the summer heat. Maybe I should just quit and move to a tropical island.
Maybe you should quit and move to a tropical island with me, and we’ll all be alone together in our woes of summer heat.
In the heat of summer, there is nothing quite like the fresh crunch of a delicious cucumber straight from our garden.
Mine are almost ready, and I’m looking forward to them like nothing else.
It refreshes a hot, dry day like nothing else.
Did you know that while cucumbers are approximately 95% water, they also supply a huge dose of potassium and a decent dose of magnesium?
That means when you take that fresh cucumber and sprinkle a little salt on it (sodium), the combination of sodium and potassium creates a perfect electrolyte, helping to rehydrate you at a deep cellular level.
Did you know that you can drink a ton of water and still be dehydrated if you don’t have the correct balance of sodium and potassium?
In fact, too much water without these nutrients can cause serious medical problems in your body. Those electrolytes allow your cells to accept the hydration so that your body can actually use the water you are drinking.
I don’t believe it is an accident that we have such an abundant source of deep physical refreshment right in the heat of the summer work season.
Thank You, Lord!
I don’t know about you, but sometimes the battles, struggles, and drudgery of life can leave me feeling a little parched in the soul. It shows up a little differently for everyone, but as I have matured, I have learned to recognize my personal signs that my non-physical self is getting dehydrated. A little discontent, a little grumbling, a little "this is so hard," and a large dose of self-centered "poor me" perspective are sure symptoms.
But still, even today, I often tend to try to refresh my non-physical soul with physical things.
Sleep, relationships, food, groups of people, staying away from groups of people, fun, quiet, success, lack of responsibility.
Some people turn to drugs and alcohol, shopping sprees, or gambling. For me, I tend to want to hide with a good book.
Physical things touch our soul... a cuddle with a sleeping newborn granddaughter, an exquisite meal shared with a close friend, a bite of that death-by-chocolate cake that I crave.
They touch our souls, but alone, much like water without electrolytes, they can’t nourish us in the deep places.
These things tend to create a strange "nutrient" imbalance when taken without the proper nutrition that allows our soul's cells to accept the positive benefits from them.
Looking for your soul’s refreshment in relationships can create codependent tendencies, as we look for people to fill our souls’ needs.
Turning to food quickly turns into emotional eating.
And while seeking success or fun is healthy and normal, depending on these things to fill our souls creates a disastrous condition for our mental and emotional well-being.
We need a soul-balancing electrolyte to allow our parched souls true health.
Much like the abundance of cucumbers in the garden on a hot summer day, there are an abundance of ways to truly and deeply refresh our souls. Everyone has something a little different that works best for them.
But every single one of those methods helps us take our eyes off ourselves and refocus them on the Giver of Life, who also just happens to be the Living Water that our souls need for true refreshment.
I know for me, as my soul feels tired and thirsty, as I feel grumpy and overworked, like I’m not having fun anymore, I don’t actually need a tiny house on the beach in Fiji. What I need is a shift of perspective, a choice to see the world from God’s eyes instead of my own.
The fastest way for me, personally, to make this switch is worship.
It is impossible to pretend like I am God, or make my problems seem too large, when I am worshipping Him.
Sometimes this just means a few minutes in prayer, telling God how great I think He is and listing all the ways I think He is worthy.
Sometimes I have a full-on worship session with singing and music (and even dancing if I’m alone, if I’m being honest), praising the Lover of my Soul.
John 4:13-14
"Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
So today, like pretty much every other day of my life, I am shifting my perspective.
I’m taking my soul’s electrolyte to truly refresh my soul.
And I know from long-tested experience that not only will it nourish me deeply, but it will also take those bitter things and turn them sweet.
Friend, if you’re like me and you’re feeling tired in this season, tired of all the demands, tired of the disappointments, tired of the frustration, or simply tired of working so hard, remember that we all need refreshment, and we need it every single day.
And there’s only one true source of Living Water that will refresh our souls.
Take some time today to worship Jesus with all your heart. It will do you a world of good.
And I guess we’ll get to cancel those plane tickets to Fiji and get back to work in the garden.
I hope you have a great month, and I can’t wait to see you soon.
