There’s a promise embedded here – one that we all desperately need.
But those few days … man, oh man they feel good. There’s nothing like standing on the shore, looking at the ocean, to make you feel like a new person. Talk about times of refreshing.
What if I told you that feeling is accessible to us all the time?
I recently had a moment of repentance whereby my refreshing came. I feel like Christians can sometimes add a negative connotation to the word “repent.” As though the fact that we had to repent at all indicates that we are evil. How very pharisaical of us.
In truth, repentance is for our good and should be celebrated, not condemned. After all, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
Repentance is for our good and should be celebrated, not condemned.
In my case, there was this lie that I’d believed: that I’m not really wanted beyond what I can do for people. My skills are desired, but not my personhood. Tolerated for the sake of what I bring to the table. Not celebrated.
I can’t tell you the moment I believed this lie. Honestly, I can’t remember ever not believing it. And this led to a lifetime of working really really hard to prove to anyone and everyone – and myself – that I’m worth it. Moments of victory came; this wasn’t a constant belief. But there wasn’t much relief in the fight.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere (although looking back, I can see all the ways God was setting me up), the kind conviction of the Holy Spirit fell on me. I repented for believing the lie. I replaced the lie with truth.
And I was refreshed.
It’s like the Bible is really true…every time.
But here’s the best part… I’ve told this story at least five times now, and every time, the refreshing washes over me again. It’s like the Bible is really true and we really do overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Every time I testify, I’m refreshed.
Let’s look at this verse again to really mine out the promise therein.
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,”
Acts 3:19
Repent: to turn away. In other words, to reject. But it’s not enough to just turn away unless we…
Turn to God: fix your eyes. The direction you look will end up being the direction in which you travel. So look to God. Turn to Him.
So that: this is an indication of a structural relationship called instrumentation. A means to an end. The means is our repentance and our decision to turn to God. Those things are in our control. The end is that our sins are wiped away and we are refreshed. Those things aren’t in our control.
The direction you look will end up being the direction in which you travel. So look to God.
When we encounter structural relationships in scripture, we would be wise to question the implications of such literary devices. In this case, what are the implications of this use of instrumentation?
There’s the stuff we can do, and then there’s the part only God can do. The means (us) and the end (Him). Isn’t the removal of our sin – not just the forgiveness of it, but the actual removal of our sin – far greater than the part we play?
And then on top of that, He brings about the ultimate in vacation-style refreshing – that which compounds everytime we tell the story. The implication here is that the grace of our God far outweighs the iniquity of humanity.
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,”
Acts 3:19
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