Inspiration

Is there anything better than a cool breeze on a hot summer day? We have all probably been refreshed at one time or another by the gentle blowing of the wind on a day in which the temperature pushed the thermometer to the extreme. You are outside in the heat with sweat on your brow and with the thickness of humid air around you, when all of a sudden the trees begin to rustle and like a soft caress, a cool breeze passes over you. At that instant, the heat is swept away by the wind and you find a moment of refreshment. Your body temperature cools, you breathe a little easier, and you sigh thinking to yourself, “That’s just what I needed.”

Sometimes our lives can become overwhelmed by the heat of life, of problems, pains, anxieties, fear, and uncertainties. Often these conditions pile up on us and smother us in a heavy blanket of despair. For anyone who has ever been depressed, the heaviness of such a covering can almost be too much to bear at times. It feels as though we cannot breathe surrounded by such heat.

Yet, like the summer breeze which cools and refreshes us on a hot summer day, so too does God daily comfort us with his grace which enters our lives, reminds us of God’s presence, and renews our faith. It is at these moments that we remember that God’s grace is sufficient for every need. God gives to us just what we need when life turns up the heat on us. In the book of Acts in the New Testament we find these words, “Turn to God…so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” The invitation for each of us is to turn toward the gentle blowing of God’s grace and know that we can find the renewal and refreshment we need.

Regardless of how hot life may become, God’s grace is greater. God will not leave us stifled by the heat of despair and despondency. Rather, God’s grace continues to flow toward us like gentle breezes reminding us that we are never alone, God’s grace is sufficient, and that we cannot be separated from God’s love.