Being Renewed
How can we get refreshed daily?
I received my call to missions during a 10-week short-term missions trip in 1980. Then in 1989, married with two daughters aged one- and three-years-old, my husband and I left Los Angeles and arrived in Japan with expectant hearts and dreams. Life in Japan was rough during our first three years. Having a Japanese face but not being able to speak Japanese was a challenge. There were many unfulfilled expectations and disappointments. I experienced role losses on a multitude of levels and at times felt isolated and discouraged.
After a year of home assignment we returned to Japan refreshed and renewed for our second term. This time around, I made it a priority to take time for self-care spiritually, emotionally, and physically in the midst of busy ministry.
I found my niche in ministering (member care) to missionaries with my professional skills as a Christian therapist. After serving for over 10 years, the Lord called my husband and me to return to the Los Angeles area to serve as a pastor and Christian counselor respectively for the past 17 years.
The theme for the upcoming Women in Ministry Retreat is “Being Renewed.” This is taken from Romans 12:1-2. How desperately at times I needed renewal, but didn’t know how to get it. Instead, sometimes I felt offended and resentful at others and even God. Looking back, I realize I had many false beliefs in my mind about myself, others, and God, which pulled me down and made me feel stuck.
Do you feel stuck? Do you want your life to be renewed?
How do we get renewed?
Renewal is defined as a change of heart and life. What does this look like practically?
Paul writes in Romans 12:2, “ Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (KJV). This renewal of the mind, which Paul shares about, is an ongoing process of re-charging. I have found that instead of choosing to run on empty and complain, I need to daily choose to refuel and be replenished by the Lord. We are told God’s loving-kindness and compassions are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). Thus, I try to make time daily to search for his tender love.
If I’m proactive in looking for God’s tender love throughout the day and give him thanks despite my circumstances, I’m refueled and replenished. In fact gratitude studies suggest that practicing gratitude brings a person more positive emotion, better health, stronger relationships, and greater life satisfaction.1
In the midst of busyness, the Lord reminds me of the importance of spending unhurried time in his presence. To be in a place where he can speak to me from his Word. Not just for the sake of studying a passage in preparation for a Bible study or a message, but being in a position where I worship him simply for who he is.
The Lord speaks to me through his creation and creatures too. Whether it is listening to the birds chirping or standing under a huge maple tree and noticing the sun shining on the resplendent lime green leaves, I feel his joy. I’m reminded that this awesome God who created all these things and me, is with me and loves me. So I ask the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, to help me be sensitive to him throughout my day. I ask for his perspective and the ability to be grateful.
Make space for God
Becoming renewed is about making space for God in our hurried lives. How do we do that? What does it look like in our daily lives? However you make space for him, it can bring renewal and refreshment to our spirit, soul, and body.
Ann Voskamp says in her book, One Thousand Gifts, that too often “we live like life is an emergency,” but it isn’t. Each moment is a gift from God to savor. When I’m feeling stressed or overwhelmed, I can choose to release these moments of pressure to God and ask him to reveal his truths into every part of my being. I can ask Jesus to help me view myself, others, and even our Heavenly Father, from his perspective. As I do this, I feel his peace.
Lord, thank you for your steadfast love that is new every morning. Help us to be sensitive to your Holy Spirit this day. Please touch the eyes of our hearts daily to have your heavenly perspective. May you activate our senses so we can observe your loving-kindness and express our thanksgiving to you with a heart of gratitude.
1. Emmons, R. A., and Mishra, A., “Why gratitude enhances well-being: What we know, what we need to know.” in Designing the future of positive psychology: Taking stock and moving forward, ed. Sheldon, K., Kashdan, T., & Steger, M.F. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 248-262