I have been falling deeper and deeper in love with Gods word recently. The precious promises in the bible that I have been finding and leaning on have become like a sweet fragrance to a desperate soul. So often, we get very familiar with popular passages until we miss the hidden gems and beauty within them.
The other day I was speaking with someone on the phone and the conversation centred around emotional healing. After we hung up, I began to question God about scriptures I could find pertaining to healing for those who need help in their emotions. He didn’t answer right away, but a few days later, I was led to Psalm chapter 23 verse 3 where it reads “He restores my soul”. Instantly I knew God was answering the question I had a few days before.
I recently began to reflect on the meaning of this verse and how true I had seen it to be in my life, especially this year. Sometimes we don’t see the practicality of certain verses, I know I didn’t, until I reflected on 2020, my journey and that of those who have shared with me.
This year we were caught in a pandemic. Jobs have been lost, lives have been lost, bankruptcies are at an all time high, we are adjusting to new norms and additionally, many have faced trauma personally in their relationships.
The promise of God refreshing our soul still rings true. Even amid a crazy year, many of us have realized how important our mental health is and so have taken the journey of therapy, which indeed restores our soul.
We also created tighter friendship circles as we now know the importance of “checking in” with strong and vulnerable friends alike.
In my own life, God provided a Mini- road trip this summer, for which I felt so grateful.
In the small ways, also, I have seen God refresh my soul. I began to enjoy nature much more, sometimes running to my garden when anxiety attacks came on. I have been taking walks, swimming when I can and eating nutritious foods while stealing a few unhealthy but pleasant indulgences.
The concept of restoring our souls may seem foreign to those who don’t really understand what the soul is. The way I learnt it, is that we are a spirit, have a soul and live in a body. Hence, our soul is our mind, will and emotions.
Obviously, we tend know we need to care for our bodies and we tend to care about our finances as well. We also care for our possession such as places of dwellings and vehicles. But, what about our souls??
I honestly believe that if God wants to pull you into deeper intimacy with him, he is going to create a need within our soul. This is because we can turn to medicine to cure our sicknesses and the bank during debt or lack, but no one on earth can heal a broken heart or a mind in need of peace. I submit that not only does he restore our soul, but He also reveals himself to us through this beautiful and intimate process.
Restoring the soul is never pretty. Healing sometimes requires work, patience and vulnerability. Healing requires we face the truth, admit our faults, control our anger, forgive the unforgivable, love the unlovable (sometimes which is what we see ourselves as) as well as submit to Gods precepts when we don’t believe they work and have only a promise to stand on in the face of severe despair.
However, the other end of this very rugged, high mountain is a beautiful inheritance God longs to give to those called by His name. Will you trust him? Will you take the deep dive? Will you open up?
I pray 2021 sees your soul restored from the effects of a very hard year. May you remember that the Son of God came not just to give you access to life after death, but also healing and wholeness in this life. Circumstances should not dictate what God can do, let Him show you for himself. When all doors close, that’s when God can begin to work.
May every blessing be yours this season.
Elizabeth is a student of Applied Behaviour Analysis and Special Education, a proud public speaker at Toastmasters International and budding entrepreneur. In my free time, she loves reading, cycling, crocheting and most recently, mastering cuisine in the kitchen. Her life’s ambition is to own an international non-profit ministry focusing on eliminating poverty in Africa and Asia as well as ministering mental and emotional healing.