Restoring Our Souls

Written by Idella Zell

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.  He restores my soul.” Psalms 23:1-3

To restore means “to repair, renovate or return to a former condition.”

When I think about my soul, I think about the deepest part of my inner being.  I think that God wants me to go deeper with Him and give Him my all from the depths of my soul. I think about surrendering everything that would hinder me from a clear pathway to Him.  If my soul has wandered from Him, I pray that it will find its way back to Him. I pray that whatever damage has been done to it by the tragedies and trials of life will be repaired and restored to its original condition.  I desire to submit my heart and soul to God free and clear of any obstructions so that He can move in my life as He pleases!

As I reflect on His goodness, I am reminded of all the victories He has brought me through. One of my main sayings is that “can’t nobody do me like Jesus, can’t nobody do me like the Lord!” (this is actually part of a song) He always knows how to handle me and bring me in line with what He has planned.  If I get off track, He will bring me right back in line. My constant prayer is for His complete and perfect will to be done in every area of my life no matter what. I pray that He will not let anything happen in my life that He hasn’t planned.

This was the case when I attempted to go to trucking school years ago. I thought it was His will for me but discovered years later and a couple of thousand dollars later that this was not His will for me.  I was devastated and damaged! So today I would like to open my heart and soul completely to Him to restore me and bring me back to the center of His will. I pray that I will continue to submit to Him and not have a desire for things that are not a part of His plan and purpose for my life.

My challenge for you today is for you to submit your soul completely into His hands and allow Him to restore your soul from the damage that has occurred through hurt, abandonment, anger, unforgiveness, and anything else you have allowed into your spirit and soul.  He is the restorer of your soul.  He wants to give you back your life and bind up your wounds.  He wants to give you strength when you feel weak. He wants to heal your damaged emotions.  Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning (Ps. 30:5).  As the deer pants after the water, God wants our souls to pant after Him and Him only (Ps. 42:1)!  We can only do this through surrendering ourselves to Him and His word.  His word restores us so let us meditate, memorize, and speak it over our lives and our situations continuously.

Father God, we ask that You will give us a mind to surrender our souls to You. Forgive us for the times we tried to handle things on our own.  We surrender hurt, feelings of abandonment, anger, bitterness, and anything else that would keep us from total surrender. We release our emotions to You and ask that You will heal the damage from our pasts and from this moment forward by faith we receive your peace and restoration in our souls in Jesus’ Name!

Scriptures for further study:

**There are 432 verses with the word “soul” but these are just a few:

Psalm 25:1
Matthew 11:28-30
Psalm 31:7
Psalm 33:20
Psalm 34:2
Psalm 34:22
Psalm 35:9
Psalm 35:13