I recently published a post ‘What Does it Mean to be Still?’. (You may want to start there so that this post makes more sense ). I have been studying Jennifer Rothchild’s ‘Psalm 23’ and the journey has continued to be amazing.
Psalm 23:1-3
‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me besides still waters.
He restores my soul.’
According to the verses above – First, the Lord leads me beside still waters (What Does it Mean to be Still) and then He restores my soul. How is that even possible? Think about it in the midst of chaos, busyness, working, being a wife, being a mom, being a friend, being a daughter, being a sister – how can we even have time to take a deep breath let alone find time to be still?. We crave quiet and peace- but it seems impossible with everything coming at us all the time. Do we need restored – yes. But how?
So, He leads me besides still waters first and then He restores. Which led me to ask ‘What does restore even mean?’
1. Return someone (or something) to its original condition.
2. Give (something previously stolen, taken away, or lost) back to its original owner.
Return or give? I found those definitions very thought provoking and not something I really gave attention to before. Restore is a verb. It has action. But where does the action come from? Is it my action? Can I restore myself? No, according to the definition it means return or give. The Lord returns or gives back to me what was lost. He returns and gives me something I didn’t even know was lost or stolen or taken away. But what is he returning?
My soul. Again, what does that even mean?
Let’s start with the definition –
Soul – noun – the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal.
The immortal part of me. The spiritual part of me. What part of ‘me’ does that represent? Certainly not my outward self – so it must be from my inward self. My innermost self.
Before our shepherd rescued us and brought us back to Him, we were separated, lost and without hope. Lost and without hope…I don’t know about you – but that just sounds terrible! Our shepherd is the great rescuer. He rescues our souls from sin. He rescues our souls from ourselves. He restores our souls when we stray – He brings us back – He returns us. There it is again…..returns. He returns us back to Him!
Do you need restored?
When I live my life with me as the center I get tired. Everything about me is tired. I find myself sighing all the time. Getting frustrated. Impatient. Irritated. Craving sleep and oblivion. When I live my live with God as the center I feel peace. Contentment. Joy. Even when life is nuts and crazy I can lean in and feel restored.
How about you? Do you need restored? Would you like some inner peace? If you do, I would like to suggest that you read part 1 of my Psalm 23 posts and then just lean in. Put your faith and trust in Jesus – the author and perfecter of our faith.
