Pools of Refreshing for Our Weariness

May LoveLetter 2022

Hello Friends,

It is a glorious spring day here in beautiful Central Florida! Summer’s coming and I will admit, it would not be hard to complain about the heat down here. But I am so thankful for all of the good things about Summer. Here are some good things: 

1. Mornings and nights are mild
2. The summer garden grows green and bursts with blooms!
3. Kids swim with Dad
4. Ice cream and popsicles
5. Beach Vacations
6. Cookouts with friends and family
7. Everything feels more relaxed

There is always something to be thankful for, right? 

News on the Homefront

I spent a wonderful 4 days at a retreat hosted by sixtyoneacres.com called Abide, and it was all about just that— abiding with Jesus. It was so restful and beautiful. Some of the most amazing sunrises I have ever experienced. And isn’t a sunrise an experience? Witnessing the rising of the earth’s life-source as it awakens all of creation. And doesn’t it inspire every living creature to sing and buzz and hover and swoop and scurry, and moo? (There were cows!) It’s always worth the getting up early part. I meet Jesus in the sunrise every time I show up. If you haven’t seen one lately, I hope you get to see one soon. 

Kids will be out of school for the summer, and we will fly to Idaho in June to visit grandparents with cousins, so everyone is very excited, to be together and to fly on an airplane (Oh my!).

 Word of Encouragement 

One of the Scriptures that was used at the retreat was Psalm 84, and the Lord has been teaching me a lot this week as I have been meditating on it. 

The phrase that I hear now as I pray for you is … pools of refreshing.  

Psalm 84:6 says, As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.

I’ve written an in-depth devotion on this passage of Scripture, and you can read it here if you want to. If you feel like you are in a Valley of Weeping or a season of grief right now, I would encourage you to read it and let it bless you. I hope you are as encouraged by this Psalm as I have been! 

Psalm 84 begins How lovely is your tabernacle, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God! 

This was my heart’s cry as I spent those 4 days abiding with Jesus. I knew I had been teary and on edge for weeks prior to that retreat, and I felt like He was showing me that this was why… my heart had been crying out for Him—crying out for the Living God! But my body and my mind were both choosing performance—to cover all my bases, to make sure everyone was happy, to just try to ‘keep up with things’ —all at the expense of my own heart. 

Even writing—something that brings me life—can end up feeling like an obligation when I am not listening to my own heart, and opening my ears up to the sweet, gentle voice of Holy Spirit. 

He wants to send pools of refreshing in our weariness. Our hearts can become weary without us realizing it.

David felt this way and cried out to God O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water (Psalm 63:1). Another version reads, ‘In a dry and weary land’. We share this experience with the Psalmists, not just the weariness that comes with the daily demands of life, but a weariness of heart and soul—our hearts cry out to God, our souls long for the living God! But our spirits can call to Him and He hears us… Refresh us with your pools of refreshing, Lord! We need Your refreshing. We are desperate for You, God! 

Here is an excerpt from the devotion I have written on the ‘pools’ He sends in the Valley of Baca (Weeping):

“Psalm 84:6 ‘The rain also covers it with pools’ 

The Hebrew word for rain is also translated, “early rain.” The early rain is the rain that falls to soften the earth before the plowing. It signals to the farmers that its time to plow. The early rain also helps the seeds that are sown to germinate and begin to grow.

In our Valley of Weeping, the Lord sends His early rain to soften our hearts so that the seeds He sows within us are able to germinate and begin to grow.

Interestingly, the word for rain is also translated  “teacher.”

This is the work of the Holy Spirit as our teacher—softening our hearts, leading us, guiding us, revealing His ways to us in the midst of our Valley. 

The word for pools refers to a blessing or benediction, and prosperity. 

So in our Valley of Weeping, as we invite Holy Spirit to walk with us through it, comforting and counseling us, He sends His early rain to soften the soil of our hearts, that we may receive what He wants to plant there and be receptive to what He wants to teach us. Over all of this, He is covering us, providing pools of blessing, which means His favor, provision, and peace.” 
(read the full article here)

We all experience Valleys. I believe that our times in the Valleys are especially close to God’s heart, because it is in those times that He sends His rain, and it is in those times that we are ready to receive Him. By His early rain, we are changed–we become a little bit softer, a little more ready to listen, a little more able to receive His words. We are also more open to receive His love, His blessing, and His peace with a tender heart of gratitude toward Him. 

Prayer

Thank you Lord for sending us Your pools of refreshing in our weariness.  And thank You for sending your early rain. We receive it, Lord. Every good and perfect gift comes from you. We long to learn from you, Holy Spirit, to be soft-hearted, teachable, and to receive your gentle counsel as we walk through our Valleys. We pray for hearts of good soil that are able to receive your counsel and your comfort. How thankful we are Lord for your favor, your provision, your peace. Thank you for taking us from strength to strength. 

Heart Matters

1. How is your heart today? Is she (or he) feeling weary and in need of refreshing? Take time for your heart. Ask your heart what she would love right now? What could you give her that would draw out a big sigh of relief? What would fill him back up? Does your heart have anything he wants to tell you?

2. Ask Holy Spirit to bring to your mind anything that you are  carrying (without realizing it) that is weighing you down and bringing you to a place of soul or heart – weariness. Write about it, and ask the Lord how He wants you to release it. He may give you a word or phrase to draw upon when you find yourself picking the burden back up. He may give you a picture, something to visualize that helps you let go or release it, even if you have to do it again and again. 

3. If you are walking through the Valley of Weeping, my heart and prayers are with you. You are never, never alone in that Valley. Psalm 84 tells us that it is in the Valley that the spring–the life source –is birthed. He is our Life, and His intimate friendship will be our source in that Valley. Keep going with Him through it because His promised redemption awaits. 

Love,

Chalis