What Restores Your Soul?

As I was learning and growing through my study of “rest” last year, I had a great question posed to me… What restores my soul? Now, the first answer is obvious. HE restores my soul. It’s right there in Psalm 23. In fact, I’m staring at a sign right now that confirms that exact fact but what does that really mean and how is that accomplished. That was more of the difficult bit for me to answer. 

In my experience, the Lord restores our souls in a plethora of ways that are only limited by His creativity and abilities but these are the areas I’ve seen most active in my life.

Supernatural

This is the one that I wish I could explain to those that don’t have a relationship with the Lord but like the old children’s classic says it’s a “peace that passeth understanding”. Sometimes, the Father will restore our souls with an ability that only He can. It may come in the form of peace or hope or joy or freedom at a time when circumstantially or emotionally you have no reason to be so inclined but God. That’s my only answer. But God. 

Time with God

Many of my supernatural restoration moments have happened in those quiet intimate moments I get to have with the Lord. I always love my quiet time but sometimes I CRAVE sitting down with my Bible and talking to my Father in a way like no other and more importantly, hearing what He has to say to me. And often my quiet time doesn’t contain my most impactful moments with God. I joke that my life only falls apart during testing season because teachers have to silently walk around the room for hours so I use it to pray and generally, I have a lot to discuss when my proctoring time rolls around but luckily, He has a lot to give in return. 

Relationships and People

Sometimes the Father allows us to be restored and refreshed through the relationships in our lives which is ironic being that often these are the very things that have worn my soul out but that is human nature. The Lord will use just the right person at just the right time to throw us a life line. It may be your best friend watching hours of ridiculous television with you while eating pizza in bed. It may be your neighbor mowing your lawn when you’ve been so overwhelmed by life that little things are falling between the cracks. It may be the person ahead of you at the coffee shop paying for your much needed afternoon caffeine or it could be the greeter at church who says they missed you last week when you don’t even know their name. God allows us to be His hands and feet in so many situations which is a blessing in the giving and receiving. 

Tiny Joys

This is the area that really got me thinking after I heard an author say we should do more of what restores our souls. And the more I thought about it the more I realized I was asking God to restore my soul or to help me find rest, yet when He gave me the very things that would accomplish that task I’d say I was too busy or it was a waste of time or money. I sometimes wonder if the Lord beats His head against a Heavenly wall trying to get me to grasp a concept. 

So, as I chased after rest last year I recognized things that, for me, are restorative and I now try to be intentional about taking the opportunity to find joy in these blessings from my Father and using these moments as worship opportunities. For example, walking in nature often brings me peace like no other. It may be a slow ramble through some local walking trails with a good audiobook or trying to hike up a mountain with my besties but those moments with God’s beautiful creation, my body moving and a disconnect from the hustle of life brings restoration. I’ve also realized that creativity is not something to be left in my childhood. 

As I became an adult with adult budgets and time constraints I decided my silly “projects” were wasteful and I only should do something creative if it had a point… sewing curtains for my classroom, painting sets for a play at school, designing costumes for Homecoming week, etc. Heck, I created this blog as a reason to do silly projects and to write… for no one but myself and the three people who even knew it existed but in my search for rest, I learned about creative rest and its ability to restore us which led to silly projects like paint-by-numbers and my infamous round, orange cucumbers. Both were completely pointless by logical standards and yet, they served a true and important purpose in my life. 

However the Lord chooses to restore us throughout our lives, let’s work to be intentional about seeing His work and being a part of the process. Let's do more of what restores our soul! And if your soul needs some restoration right now, ask the Father to give it, then be open to His process. It may be a new devotional, dinner with a friend, planting a tree, chasing a dog or earning your pilot's license. Whatever He chooses, know that HE is the very capable restorer of our souls.