How To Beat The Summer Heat by Elizabeth Reynolds

I was once given a small leaf of paper by our sister, Hedy with a list of six things to ‘beat the Summer heat’ – with a spiritual twist. In reflecting on each one, I searched for scriptures to make sure each were aligned with God’s word. And so if you’re feeling a bit hot and bothered by the dry Summer weather, these tips might be just what you need! (Notice it says how to beat the heat – not just survive. Through Christ – we are overcomers, amen!)

1. Refresh your mind by reading the Bible

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)

Sometimes we can get ourselves all hot and bothered worrying about what God’s will is and therefore how we should pray. Barry Chant in his book “Praying in the Spirit” speaks of how when he was a young Christian, he agonised over this issue. Questions like what is God’s purpose for me, should I marry or stay single, should I get a job or study? turned into questions like am I walking down the right side of the street, am I sitting in the right place on the bus? But as time passed, he learnt to relax a bit more and trust God. He also pointed out that reading the scriptures while we pray is an excellent mode of prayer. To ‘blend our own personal expressions of honour to God with those of the Bible is a fruitful exercise’. While doing this, we cannot help but start praying according to the will of God and renew and refresh our minds in the process!

2. Face the billowy breeze of the Holy Spirit

The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)

Here, Jesus was talking to the pharisee Nicodemus about how as the natural man hears the sound of the wind, so the man born again can hear the voice of the Spirit. He was perhaps talking about the Holy Spirit as a cool breeze which emits from everyone who is born of the Spirit. Wind always blows from one place into the opposite direction (i.e. North to South). And to feel the breeze, we must be standing in the way of its trajectory. To be ‘cooled’ by the fresh breeze of the Holy Spirit, we must stand in the ‘way of God’. Face Him. Look to Him. And not only that, but in amongst other believers. Because the Holy Spirit breeze is rushing through all those filled with the Spirit and if you hang around them, you’re sure to get a nice gust or two!

3. Shower yourself with God’s bountiful blessings.

You’ll notice this one doesn’t say wait for a shower. It says shower yourself. Yes, we can wait around for God to bless us. But if we’re only doing this passively, and not living in any particular way that is pleasing to God or just going about our business, chances are we won’t see those blessings. That’s not to say they aren’t there. What I mean is that you might not experience them, notice them, sense them.

When I think of seeking blessings, I think of Jacob and Esau. (Genesis 27) I have struggled with Jacob’s deception in this story and how God chose to descend His holy people from him. But it is this very fact that makes this story so remarkable. Is it not a picture that God’s grace does not triumph because of us, but in spite of us? It tells of man’s yearning for God, and God’s desire to bless us despite our sin. God's sovereignty and goodness overrule man's wilfulness and wickedness.

I also think of the famous ‘priestly blessing’. In Numbers 6, Moses is instructed to tell Aaron, the high priest, to bless the people using specific words given by God Himself. The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)

God wants to shower us with blessing. But perhaps we must ‘turn on the tap’, so to speak, and not be afraid to ask for it!

4. Drink from the springs of living water that will quench your thirst forever.

A long drink of cool water is just the ticket when you’re feeling hot and thirsty. But what of our spiritual thirst? We were created as physical beings in need of water to survive, and we were also created as spiritual beings, in need of spiritual ‘water’ to survive.

In Jeremiah 2:13, God says that He is the spring of living water. What God’s people had done at the time was dig ‘their own broken cisterns that cannot hold water’. This is a powerful picture of what we do when we think and act as though we can live our life on our own without God’s help and guidance. We want to store up our own achievements and abilities and not have to depend on God, but what we end up with is stagnant, un-fresh water that becomes a breeding ground for bacteria, mold, viruses, insects, vermin, and disease.

A spring is always flowing. It is fresh. It is clean. It will sustain. It gives life. Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well, Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of living water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:13-14)

He told a bunch of people publicly that anyone who believes in Me may come and drink! For the scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from His heart’. (John 7:38) By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. (John 7:39a)

And how can the Spirit, Who is eternal, ever ‘run dry’? And how can He be anything but clean, fresh and life-giving?

So although Jesus tells us that with the Spirit, we will never be thirsty again, we must drink deeply from the Spring daily and be refreshed, renewed, sustained.

5. Break the ice with someone against whom you are holding a grudge.

Coldness is not always a good thing. How about when someone is giving you the ‘cold’ shoulder. Or if someone is being ‘as cold as ice’ towards you. Kindness, friendliness, forgiveness… this is the kind of warmth we like in Summer and all year round.

How much has God forgiven us for? I’m sure it’s not just me who would rather not be judged and condemned for all these things. And so we must not judge and condemn others. Holding a grudge is a bitter taste in the mouth. It is a bucket that carries a heavy burden of anger. It is the dress-rehearsal for revenge and wrath. The foundation of hate. Ephesians 4:31-32 tells us to Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

To let go of a grudge is a choice. Often a difficult one. But we do have the power to choose. This is why holding grudges, along with most (of not, all) other sins is an act of fear, weakness, and timidity. But do not worry. God will provide us with the strength that we need. For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7) All we need do it exercise it. When we exercise our muscles, they become stronger. In the same way, by exercising our ‘inner’ muscles and faith in God’s power, we can overcome things that tempt us.

Is there someone you’re holding a grudge against today? Is there someone you can ‘exercise your faith’ with today, and break the icy cold barriers that hinder our spiritual lives?

6. Create a pleasant climate in your home where joy can grow.

What do we do the moment we get home on a hot day? We turn on our air conditioner. Similarly, if it’s freezing cold outside, we would put on our heater. If these aren’t possible, we naturally turn to things that will make us a little more comfortable, like adjusting the number of layers of clothing we are wearing, or doing an activity that will help our body regulate its temperature.

Similarly, we should be aware of and take action to regulate our home, so that it is conducive for spiritual contentment and godly joy. How do we do this? I don’t think any of us have a ‘spirit-conditioner’ in our house with adjustable controls. (If you do happen to have one, please let me know where I can get one!) But we do have God’s Spirit, living and active in us. And we do have God’s word living and active on our hearts.

Colossians 3:8-10 comes to mind: But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

To me, this seems to be like having a good old clean out! Get rid of the dust, the old smelly things, the things that don’t work anymore, the torn holey socks, the broken Tupperware bowl, the things that only add clutter and stress. Get rid of them! Be renewed! This might be a good start to regulating the climate of the home.

Then, know and understand that every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. (Hebrews 3:4).

Come back to God in all your thinking. Fix your thoughts on Jesus and commit your home to Him. Further on in verse 6 of Hebrews 3, it says, But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are His house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.

If we acknowledge that we are His house – His temple, honour and trust Him as the Master Builder, then our homes, which are merely wood, bricks, cement, and plaster, will permeate with God’s Spirit, God’s will, and God’s renewing love!