We’ve all felt it. Dry, wilted, a bit shriveled up. Our edges browning a bit. We are something like that struggling fern growing in the pot of earth in the corner of my room.  

If you saw that fern wilting, what would you do to refresh it? Maybe you’d move it to a ray of sunshine. Give it some water. Prune back the dead parts so the new branches can grow strong. Most of us have some ideas about how to refresh and reinvigorate the fern. But what about us? How do we refresh? 

When I meditate on the theme of “refresh” I keep coming back to the truth that God makes us new from the inside out, not the outside in. 

When we try to refresh ourselves from the outside in, it’s kind of like me trying to paint green over the dead leaves of my fern. It won’t work to actually refresh the plant, because that branch is still dying on the inside. Instead, I need to change the input: life-giving nutrients from the soil, water and sun. When given the right conditions for growth, that plant will “refresh” from the inside out.  

As global workers, we can feel like that plant in a pot—transplanted from our natural habitat into a new place. It can definitely cause our leaves to get a bit brittle some days as we adjust. This is to be expected when we’re transplanted. But given time for the adjustment, we can thrive when we find our source in Christ. We are all sojourners on this earth, waiting for the day when we can find our permanence with Him in heaven, drinking deeply of the river of life, flourishing and flowering for the praise of His glory forever! 

In the meantime, if you’re feeling dry and withered, it’s time for a refresh. Dig your roots deep into the rich soil of God’s word—that gives you all you need for life and godliness. Drink deep from the living water. Turn your face to the Son. 

“For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.” Jeremiah 31:25