Let Jesus Restore Your Soul

Are you “wanting” in one or more areas of your life? Do you cope with insecurity? Are you unsure of your worth, identity, or significance? Maybe you have a deep desire for love but you end up in the wrong places or relationships to fulfill that longing of your heart. In these uncertain and seemingly chaotic times maybe you lack peace. In this time of the global pandemic such feelings and desires may well “surface” more often in your life. We discover, maybe what we sensed all along but preferred to “keep at a distance”, that we have unmet needs and wants in life, indeed in the very depths of our  souls.

When we are no longer “in want” we can live without burnout, compulsions, addictions, insecurity, anxiety and other such afflictions of the soul. But how can we get to the “still waters and green pastures”? By medication, behavioral techniques or seemingly endless therapies? Indeed, loving friends, family, caring people are always welcome and need to be in our lives. But when we are alone and reflect, maybe before falling asleep, we realize that more is needed, the “black hole” in one’s soul is still there.

Let me suggest that we need a restoration of our souls. No band aids or simple solutions. But how? From my over twenty years of leading people in healing and transforming prayer I have seen Jesus meet the deepest needs and issues of the heart. When we experience the presence of Jesus, we realize that he is both the “therapy and the therapist”.  For some of us, we might have any one or more of past trauma, sexual abuse, issues of abandonment, shame, depression, fear or guilt to name a very few wounds and afflictions of the soul. We may have these deep dark places that we are reluctant to visit again but we know that the “surface issues” in life echo from them in convoluted ways.

Psalm 23 talks about facing and going through your personal “valley of the shadow of death”. What you thought was just too painful to consider becomes possible to face when Jesus is with you, guiding and protecting you every step of the way. This can be part of Jesus restoring your soul and hence you begin to experience the “still waters and green pastures”. Your “wants” diminish as your security, identity, worth, peace, hope and more are found in Jesus.

I invite you to listen to my exposition of Psalm 23. This well-known Psalm of the “Good Shepherd” has significant application for our journey in healing, wholeness and personal transformation. In my message I share the story of a lady who came for healing from insomnia which had plagued her for over a decade. Therapy sessions did not help much and medication presented side-effects and other issues. But when she faced a traumatic event from the past while in the healing Presence of Jesus, she was healed from the insomnia. While our personal histories are different and unique, we have similar needs for the restoration of our souls as part of our journey for transformation and wholeness.