Recharging, But Not Too Much

Today I learn two fascinating concepts about refreshing oneself.

When you think of the concept of refreshing, or what some call recharging–like rechargeable batteries for example–you’ll quickly note that the process requires an outside energy source. You cannot recharge yourself. It’s a small and obvious thing to note, but the fact draws me nearer to God.

It’s a king of plugging in, an abandoning myself at 0% to the source. I bring nothing to this situation. I need an energy that’s not my own.

Most people think of recharging as doing restful things, but in reality, these activities often leave me more drained because I haven’t connected to God, that main source. I imagine that this environment or that vacation or that soothing experience will do the trick. Just put me there, and I’ll recharge.

But it doesn’t really work.

I suppose it’s like telling your iPhone or laptop to just rest and it will get all the charge it needs. Or it’s like putting the iPhone in a new environment–like placing the dead phone on a bed or on a mountaintop or in the spa to gain that energy. Maybe you’ve been in that situation where your dream vacation or that fortune you spend on spa treatments or even that afternoon you thought would restore your soul didn’t work like you thought it would. It was nice, but it didn’t recharge you in that deep way you needed. Why didn’t it work?

I’m learning that it’s a fundamental misunderstanding of where the refreshment comes from. I think of Acts 3:19 and how “times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord.” I think of Psalm 119:7 and how God’s word “refreshes the soul” or the beautiful promise of Psalm 23:3 and how God “refreshes my soul.”

Secondly, I learn that you can actually overcharge some kinds of batteries. This overcharging ironically diminishes capacity and performance. At some point, one needs to take what’s already filled up in her and go serve others.

I take note: to recharge a battery, like refreshing a worn-out soul, requires that source that’s not me, and at some point, when I’ve recharged enough, I go out and bless.

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