Psalm 23:1-3a
I had been chatting with one of my awesome volunteers and she was telling me about a book she was reading at the time. I don’t remember the title of the book or the author but one of the characters in the early pages was a little boy who was terminally ill and working to memorize Psalm 23. This little boy was trying to understand what “restore my soul” meant. Someone explained it to him, if my memory serves, this way – “that even if the outside can’t be fixed, the Lord can fix the inside.” What a powerful statement!
We need out inside fixed more than anything don’t we. This life can be brutal on our hearts, our minds and our souls. The pace of life, that the world says we should live at is so fast, that we miss the amazing creation we live in, we miss divine appointments and we even miss His voice trying to speak to us. With the pace of life being so fast, when our bodies or our circumstances turn on us it doesn’t take long for hope to start failing or for anger to replace kindness.
If life is less than perfect – and it usually is, the holidays seems to magnify all the bad bits and hide the good bits. That when we need our Shepherd to find us, pull us out of the muck and mire we find ourselves in and lead us back to the place that He has made safe for us. Here in His pasture we find rest, and nourishment. He’ll soothe our emotions and bring healing to our souls so that we will be strengthened for all that we must face on this planet.
See Jesus came to transform us from the inside out - to restore our minds, our hearts and our souls, for those are thing things we need to love Him the way ought. When we love him the way we should we can love others, we can choose to be kind, we can slow down so we have time for those divine appointments and we can hear his voice in the quiet.
Will a restored inside make life in this world any easier – no, He never said it would. It will help us to deal with whatever the world throws at us. It will remind us that the Shepherd is nearby to lead us to rest, to put soothing balm on any wounds and to make us stronger than we can imagine being.
I don’t know what you are facing today. Maybe you are travelling pretty well right now – your soul may still need some restoration though. Maybe life is a raging storm and you are feeling battered and bruised – the Shepherd is out looking for you and when He call for you don’t run from Him, stand still and let Him come and get you. Some rest and restoration will help to keep going until the storm is over.
A restored soul? Yes, please and thank you!
A Prayer
Father – Thank you for being the Shepherd of our lives. Thank you for coming to look for us when we stray or when we’ve been wounded by life. Thank you for restoring our hearts, minds and souls. Once we have rested and received Your healing touch, help us to share Your goodness and faithfulness with those around us who are in need to your inside out transforming work that restores souls and brings rest. In the name of Jesus, who is our Shepherd and restores our souls – Amen.
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