2 Timothy 1:16 “The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain;”
There are nicknames like the Enforcer, the Terminator, executioner, or Mountain Man to express the toughness of a person. We do not think of “Refresher” as a tough person but as the Apostle Paul is launching into his second letter to Timothy, he expresses his gratefulness for a man named Onesiphorus who made a huge difference in his life by REFRESHING him. I am nicknaming Onesiphorus the refresher because he refreshed Paul as he was in prison and was not afraid or ashamed to be around the Apostle Paul.
What does it mean to be a refresher?
A look at the word “refreshed” in Greek reveals it has the idea to blow cool air. Like when you skinned up your elbow and your mother blew on it. It has the idea of coming into the house from the yard and feeling the cool air of the air conditioner. The Latin word for refreshed is (are you ready) “refrigeravit.” I think you are smart enough to see the English word refrigerator. Have you ever come in on a hot day and stuck your head in the refrigerator and felt that cool air? It was so refreshing.
Onesiphorus came to Paul and was like a breath of cool air. He was like a drink of cool water. His ministry of refreshment revived Paul.
You can be like Onesiphorus and have a ministry of refreshing that can revive weary souls. All around you are people on a journey and the journey is taxing – sometimes vexing. The work is so hard they are ready to give up, yet you show up and through a variety of actions refresh their soul. And let’s not minimize showing up. Paul commended Onesiphorus in verse 17 for seeking him out. The verse says, “But when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me.” Paul was refreshed by Onesiphorus showing up!
You can refresh someone by speaking or sending notes of encouragement. To encourage is to put courage back in a person. In I Thessalonians 5:14 we are to encourage the fainthearted. Proverbs 12:25 says, “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.” Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” You can say the right word at the right time and your words will be priceless.
You can refresh a person by reminding the discouraged soul who God is and what God has done in the past can help a person hold onto the promises of God. In Deut. 7:17 Moses wrote, “If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’ — 18 “You shall not be afraid of them, but you shall remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:
Think of ways to be like Onesiphorus and take action today refreshing someone.
Continue Strong as a refresher,
And remember to DATE the Word