“Yes, brother, let me benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ.”
Philemon 1:20
Sisters in Christ,
May day is Lei Day in Hawaii Nei! I pray we’re all enjoying the beauty of this transitional month that is filled with blooming flowers and foliage after all our much-needed April showers. It is so uplifting after the rains to see the new sprouts and growth flower the landscape with colors. Many times, after the rains of life, we can really use the blossoms of refreshment around us.
Philemon was a Christian brother known for refreshing the “hearts of the saints” (Philemon 1:7). Paul had heard of Philemon’s love and faith towards the Lord and all the saints, and he continually prayed and thanked God for him. Philemon’s heart and faithful reputation were well known, and yet Paul made a plea to him for this love he was known for to be stretched and further grown.
In his past, Philemon had a servant worker that had wronged him and run away from his duties, a slave named Onesimus. Philemon had probably anticipated that Onesimus would complete his duties faithfully rather than leave him in the dust. However, instead of being someone Philemon could depend on, Onesimus ran from his life and duties to find his own sense of freedom in Rome. I just can imagine the hurt, shame, and betrayal Philemon might have felt when the one who was supposed to be there for him went astray.
Now Paul, as a prisoner in chains himself, was writing a letter specifically asking Philemon to receive back this wandering bondservant as a brother in Christ. Onesimus, seeking freedom from his master, ran away only to find himself just as much in bondage to sin and the world. At some point in his quest for freedom, Onesimus ran into Paul, and after hearing the Gospel, he finally found true freedom in Jesus Christ.
Paul appeals to Philemon in verse 20 to “refresh his heart in Christ”. The Greek word for refreshing the hearts of the saints is “anapauo” which signifies the rest that an army takes when on the march, to regain strength for the renewal of warfare. It was a call for Philemon to remember that his battle wasn’t against Onesimus, or flesh and blood, but that it was against the spiritual forces of evil and the powers of this dark world (Eph 6:12). Philemon could either respond to the rains of the past hurts through the flesh or battle those forces of evil through the love of the Spirit of God within him. As Philemon had refreshed the hearts of the saints, so Paul asked him to refresh his heart by forgiving and accepting Onesimus.
Let’s pray for our sisters this month to refresh one another’s hearts from the battles and hurts of this world in Christ’s love. I pray that we would regain strength after the showers of past offences and see the transitions of the Lord’s love and forgiveness blooming in our lives this season. May we be known by our love for one another.
In His grace,
Jaime Angel