Bringing Rest

DEVOTION
PHILIMON
BRINGING REST
Philem 6-7
7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.
NIV
Should not all of us have such love that we all refreshed the hearts of the rest of the saints? I think I should at least have this kind of love. But this refreshing gives me some thoughts, as the Greek word implies to give repose or rest. Perhaps Philimon gave, opening his home, and gave comfort to those poorer souls who were in need of a place to sleep at night. But if that is the case, how can believers today extend such hospitality? Maybe there is another kind of repose or rest. Maybe being able to set aside fears and anxieties over the situations of life in this world is a form of refreshing the saints. There is so much going on in the world if believers are not careful they can get all taken up in the worries and stresses of just getting each day. In this cultural the concerns about financial security can drive people into a frenzy over their future conditions. I think sometimes too many of the saints, the believers get so inward focused and have too many concerns about their own life, they get anxious and forget God will provide all their needs. Maybe through sharing God’s word I can have some effect on giving them repose, or rest in their spirits. I think this true rest; this true refreshing comes from a complete inner trust in God. To be able look to God for every aspect of life, knowing he will take care of each and every one surely has to bring a complete rest and refreshing within. But I cannot give that refreshing, it must come from him. So how can I refresh the saints? Can I bring great joy and encouragement to my Lord in the refreshing of the saints? I must come back to the word of God, for it is the only thing I know which can do such a thing. Yes, giving housing, food and clothing to those who are in need has some physical form of refreshing, but what does that do for the spirit? If this life is only physical, then I think it is meaningless. I believe true refreshing happens within the spirit and only the Word of God is capable of bringing that kind of refreshing. Philimon refreshed the hearts, the bowels, the inner being of those saints, and that is not the physical, but the spiritual part of man. So it is for me, I must continue on the course God has set me. I must share his word in order to bring rest to the others.