Filled Again

It was a Monday.

Despite an enjoyable weekend that included enjoying his hobbies, attending church, and spending time with friends and one of our grown children, my husband was—in a word—deflated. He struggled to muster the energy for work. And he likes his work!

It seemed as though he had everything he needed to rise to the challenge: several days of pleasurable activities and the people he loves.

And yet . . . he still felt lackluster. He completed the tasks that were necessary for his job—faithfully but without his customary zeal.

We went for a walk that evening. Spring was brandishing its colors in blooming phlox, leafing trees, and the grassy foothills turning a vibrant green. We remarked on the beautiful views and pleasant scents, crediting God for His glorious creation. After an hour treading the gravel paths of our neighborhood, we neared home. Turning into our driveway, he said, “Thanks for getting me out for a walk. I needed this.”

He was feeling better.

When a lack of energy for our daily tasks isn’t due to mental health causes like depression or attributable to being in a job we don’t like, it might mean we’ve depleted our reserves and need to recharge.

The notion of “recharging” isn’t as modern as one might think; it didn’t arise from the invention of batteries. In fact, the word has a centuries-old history and is a combination of two parts:

Charge, meaning to load or fill a receptacle with something to be retained. Or, to care for or be responsible for something (e.g., a person or a payment).

The prefix re, meaning to go back to its original form.

To “recharge” then means that we need to be filled again with that which fuels us for life.

I used to think of recharging as an activity we do passively—like solar lights basking in the sunlight or our phones plugged into the nearest outlet—perhaps while we sleep. And rest is certainly part of recharging. But my husband was rejuvenated by expending physical energy on our walk, so rest is only part of what it means to recharge.

Extraverts, for example, gain energy from the time they spend with people—fueling them for their other activities. (Introverts like me genuinely enjoy our time with people and even seek them out but aren’t rejuvenated by time with them.) Whether it’s passive (reading, listening to music, or watching a movie) or active (like painting, hiking, gardening), the activity itself isn’t what qualifies something as recharging. What re-fuels us for life is idiosyncratic; it’ll be different for each person because God created us all to be unique.

Rather, the key to recharging is that it’s deliberate. It’s purposeful and regular, not haphazard. Our ultimate energy source is God Himself. He fills our lungs with breath, animates our bodies, and stimulates our minds—endowing us with the ability to live (see Acts 17:25).

Are we more diligent about plugging in our phone to ensure it doesn’t run out of batteries than we are about our connection to God, in whom “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28)?

God is near—closer than the outlet on the wall. And goes with us everywhere. It is He who filled us with life . . . and He who wants to fill us again, to recharge us.

Will we let Him?

—Written by Kirsten Holmberg. Used by permission from the author.