FollowingJesus.me

“Repent then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you — even Jesus.” – Acts 3:19-20

This is now Peter’s second sermon recorded in Acts and, again, he is calling his people to repent and turn to Jesus. Here, Peter gives three reasons why the people should turn to God: 1. the forgiveness of sins, 2. times of refreshing, and 3. so that Messiah will come (again). All three of these deserve exploration, but the one we are exploring today is the “times of refreshing.” Peter says, “Repent and turn to God…that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”

Growing up in church, repentance has always been linked to the forgiveness of sins. Repentance, literally “changing direction,” was about turning from sin, turning to God, and experiencing God’s grace and forgiveness. Apparently, God has even more available for us but we don’t talk about it as much. Here, Peter ties repentance directly to times of refreshing. Using my Blue Letter Bible app, I discovered that “refreshing” in this verse is translated from the Greek word anapsyxis which means “a recovery of breath.” God wants to not only forgive sins but also provide opportunities for us to catch our breath. That thought sparks something in my soul.

In our bustling, driven society rare is the opportunity to stop and catch our breath. We know this is not good, but for some reason, we won’t get off the hamster wheel long enough to recharge. The situation is so pervasive that now our smartwatches will interrupt our day to remind us it is time to stop and breathe. Although I know I should, like many I tend to ignore the reminder thinking, “I’ll stop and breathe later; no time right now.”

Of course, there is the rare occasion that I do stop, open the app, and take those deep breaths. When I do, it helps. Just that pause to reset my breathing and recenter myself gives me energy and helps improve my attitude around whatever it is I am doing. (Even as I write this I am asking myself, “If you know it helps, why would you ignore it? Obviously, you know better, why don’t you do better?” There is a lot to be said here about faith, fear, pride, trust, and surrender but we will save that for another day.)

As helpful and valuable as that is, what Peter is proclaiming is even more profound. There is way more to these “times of refreshing” and I’ll talk about that in my next post. The thing is, I don’t believe we can experience the fullness of what Peter is proposing UNTIL we learn this simple discipline. We cannot fully experience what God has for us without first learning the discipline of stopping throughout the day, even for just 60 seconds, to pause, breathe, and refocus. It starts here. God wants you to catch your breath, so stop and do that. It makes a difference. It matters, both to your life and to your soul.

Join me, starting now, in taking regular opportunities to pause, breathe deeply, and refocus. We know better, now we can do better!

Prayer:

(Before we pray, take 3 deep, slow breaths. With every breath in, recognize you are sitting in the presence of a loving Heavenly Father. With every breath out, you are laying at his feet all of your cares and worries. Breathing in: you’re in God’s presence and breathing out: handing your cares and worries over to Him.)

Jesus, thank you that the world is not on my shoulders. At times, I behave as though it is and I am sorry. Forgive me for taking on responsibility that is not mine and for not trusting you to do what you have promised to do. You really do have the whole world in your hands, and that includes my life, my family, my job, my church, my friends, etc. Thank you for having such strong, broad shoulders and for carrying that responsibility. Thank you for carrying the weight so I can stop and catch my breath. Lord, help this not be a one-time or rare occurrence but help me to regularly and intentionally stop and breathe, remembering I am your child and I can (and should) cast my cares on you. Jesus, I love you and I thank you that you care for me!

Thank you, Jesus!