Restoration

Restoration...

He restores my soul...

Psalm 23:3a NKJV

Let’s take a look at one of the re words that come up so frequently in the Scriptures. Especially as we venture into what it might mean for the Lord Jesus to make all things new. King David’s words from Psalm 23 are some of the most comforting and profound in all of Scripture...it is his Loving Shepherd who restores his soul.

From the original Old Testament Hebrew word for restore—Shub—we find again the meaning of returning to what was initially intended. To refresh, restore, reverse, and return. As we apply God’s Word to the arena of our soul, we can lean into this promise that our hearts, emotions, minds, thoughts, and personalities can be made whole and restored by the One who created them in the first place.

Whether we like it or not, our soul affects every area of our lives. We can’t compartmentalize it and consider that it won’t color even the most practical matters we face. Jesus said that our soul is so interconnected that our emotions reflect our thinking, and our thinking is helped or hindered by our emotions. Then add to the mix that both our emotions and thoughts have the utmost influence on our personalities and ability to make sound decisions (Matthew 15:19). No wonder we need a total restoration of this hidden part of us!

In all truthfulness, how we tend our souls can open and close new doors all through our lives.

So, let’s pay close attention to not only what we are thinking but also what we are feeling. We are not to trust our emotions. Still, they are a temperature gauge of our soul that we can’t ignore. Let’s get help if we need it, seek Jesus ardently, and let the Holy Spirit do what He does so well: restore every aspect of our soul and return it to the wholeness it was originally intended to flourish in.

Any Not Enough Areas in Your Life?

But whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. But the water that I give him will become in him a spring of water [satisfying his thirst for God] welling up [continually flowing, bubbling within him] to eternal life.

John 4:14 AMP

I mean, really. The woman at the well meeting up with the King of the Universe is a story for the ages. If there ever was a testimony describing the transformation of a divine encounter, this is it.

A Samaritan woman, already on the outside of God’s promises, finds herself also on the outside looking in for what she hopes will satisfy the deepest longings of her heart. Looking for love in all the wrong places, with all the wrong people, there was a much deeper issue than merely chasing something—man’s affection in her case—than meets the eye.

Decades ago, my husband lovingly told me, Sue, you have a spirit of lust about you. No, it’s not sexual. However, you are never satisfied with anything. His words were true. I had such deep insecurity and a sense of worthlessness that nothing, not even my dear children and husband, could satisfy. No matter how much I had, which was a lot in every category, it was never enough for me. Do you have any not enough areas in your life?

We might need to look where we’ve been robbed by the enemy, others, or our own foolishness that has caused an insatiable deep well of longing in our lives. We may not need something new; we just need to realize God’s goodness in what we already have. That will be new and even better.

This was my story. I asked Jesus to drench my life with His living water—The Holy Spirit. The only One who could bring fullness, deep satisfaction, and subsequent overflow to my life. It wasn’t my trying harder to be content; instead, the new thing I pursued first and foremost was the Holy Spirit’s felt presence. I was set free. I was made new. My eyes were opened to the abundant blessings around me. And like the woman at the well, I can’t stop telling everyone about Jesus and His living and satiating water.