Days of Refreshing # 20

In Romans 13, Paul is seeking to give us a different perspective on life. Rather than viewing government as evil, look on the good side of the things God provides for us through it.  Rather than seeing resting as a waste of time, look upon it as an opportunity to refocus your life. He says in verse

11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. 

Times of refreshing lead to a new view. We wake up and realize that our lives have become wrapped up in and characterized by sinful behaviors: medicating our hurts with substances or shopping, looking upon others as our problems and blaming them for our woes; living to fulfill our desires rather than like Christ. Maybe the reason we are so worn and weary, needing refreshing, is because of all the baggage we are trying to carry on the journey. God says: give it up; lay it down; leave it behind; walk forward in freedom.