Refreshing the hearts of the saints

I don't know if it's just me, but there seems to be a heaviness abroad at present. Whether it's the falling away within the church which seems to increase apace, or whether it's uprisings in the Middle East, persecution of brothers and sisters worldwide, or whether it's simply events closer to home within family, or whether it is the sin in my own heart, I feel a heaviness. 

One thing I do know. The encouragement of my sisters in the Lord has been a prized pearl of late.

Knowing we have been bought by the precious blood of the Lamb and brought into His family through no merit of our own but purely for the purposes of His own Good Pleasure and for His Glory's sake sets these friendships in a class of their own. Knowing these friends set their hearts on pleasing Him and want to walk worthily of the calling they have received makes me want to emulate their example. But it's knowing that we're holding out our hands for one another, reaching together for His hands, that gives these friendships the power that they have - even though in some cases they are an ocean away.

In Jeremiah 31:25 God says "I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint". More often than not, it seems to me He fulfils this through His people. In the words of Paul to Philemon: "Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints." (Philemon 1:7).

To all the Philemon's I have been blessed with, I love you.