daily spiritual reflection - apr. 5

BIBLE READING FOR THE DAY: 

⁵ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
   Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
   for I will yet praise him,
   my Savior and my God. (Psalm 43:5)

THOUGHT:  Man, I love the Psalms.  They have such honesty in them.  Also, they let us into a world where we can learn more about who we are.  So, we've got a soul?  The psalmist thinks so, and it seems the soul is a place where our emotions dwell and maybe even where our thoughts rest.  Like the psalmist, our souls can feel down and disturbed.  For me, this changes things.  My feelings are housed somewhere and are not as transient as I might imagine.  I don't just have to muster up positive thoughts to replace negative thoughts or rush into activities that might make me feel better.  Instead, I can sit in my sadness and distress.  I don't have to run from it.  Rather, I can speak to my soul even in its confusion and say, "Praise God" or say "I receive hope from my God."  Then, God is the one who has to act and we are to wait in hope, not in frustration or sadness.  This hope is a practice one can build over time through waiting expectantly for God to move.

CHALLENGE:  First, listen to this:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHWsKTSdS74 .  Did you resonate with the lines "Awake My Soul"?  If the seat of our emotions and feelings is the soul, then how is your soul doing?  Take some time to journal about that.  Then, speak to your soul knowing that God is speaking with you.  An example is speaking rest or peace to an uneasy soul.  Repeat until you feel God is with you in the prayer, perhaps, even leading you throughout it.  Lastly, acknowledge to God that you are waiting for God's actions and ask him to give you hope as you wait.

 

Peace,

Josh