restore

There’s been a blog post on my heart for you, for the past few days. And today the time is finally right to put it into words. I wonder if you can imagine my surprise when I saw just now that it’s exactly one month – to the day – since the last time I wrote on here. I love how God is the One who times these things just right. Another reminder that His plan is always SO much better than mine, thank goodness!

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Sometimes we all need space, room, time to regroup and find ourselves again. You know, the kind of soul space that comes from putting extra measures of grace in place around you.

Space for healing, for hoping, for renewing, for breathing, for creating.

Space to refresh your soul.

Grace to allow yourself the time you need to repair and restore.

Like sheep, resting in green pastures.

The thing is, in order to be restored, you first need to acknowledge that you’re in need of restoration.

At times the need for restoration is obvious and you find yourself stopped in your tracks until you face it. Other times it creeps up on you unobtrusively, then before you know it you’ve hit a wall and you don’t know why.

Have you ever watched sheep in a field, nestled to rest between blades of grass? Did you know that’s the picture God gives for what He wants to do for you?

It may be that there’s a wound that needs nursing. Or a wearying soul fatigue, from carrying others’ burdens for too long, that needs attention. Perhaps it’s figuring out how your identity fits into place when circumstances feel like they’re shifting beneath your feet. You could be adjusting to a significant change, or prognosis, or grieving something that’s lost. Or a culmination of all of the above, and more.

Whichever it is, right now you might still be able to be thankful and celebrate the little things. And that’s awesome: I encourage you to keep choosing thankfulness.

But also it’s important to know that the not-so-pretty stuff matters too.

Because the tough stuff – be it big, or little – adds up if we don’t find a way to let go.

In the current climate, there’s a combination of big and little as we each deal with the effects of a global pandemic. We’re being confronted with it both on a worldwide platform and at a personal level, within our own homes.

Today I invite you to lay it down. Whatever it is that you’re carrying, however difficult it is to hold. Lay it at the feet of the Shepherd; the One who promises to lead you beside still waters. He will restore your soul. And your job? Simply to let Him.

Because when you hand it over, and keep handing it over, you’re allowing everything that you grapple with – pains, successes, joys and fears – to be transformed in the process. The aches will soften, the burden will ease, your wounds will heal, and your scars will tell a story that is as unique as you are.

And while, right now, that may not make it any easier, somehow within that truth there’s a thread of hope. Hope that births a deep-seated, lasting joy. A joy that is sometimes mingled with tears, but is still there. And that’s what I’m praying over you today.

The Lord is your shepherd. You lack nothing. He leads you beside still waters. And He promises to restore your soul.

Today, may you be refreshed.

Kristy x

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Not sure what this is all about? Learn more about Soul Graces here.