Soul Searching

What do your surface laments tell you? What experience, loss, or disappointments have you yet to grieve?

  

  

Lord, I thank you that You are a Promise Maker and a Promise Keeper. When I go out to my barren field with a sob in my throat and tears in my eyes, and I plant seeds of faith in the ground, I can know that after a time, one day, I will walk that field and it will be fertile and bursting with life. I will remember the days that I wept and walked, sowed and waited, and I will rejoice because You have kept Your promise to me! I will rejoice as I return to share with others the harvest I carry in my arms.

Psalm 125:5–6 (paraphrase)

Prayer

Father in heaven, I worship You! You have ransomed my life from the pit. You have saved my soul. And You are redeeming my story. Help me to trust You with every hidden hurt, every embedded fear, and every unhealthy way that I process these things. You have a better way of life for me. You have new places of promise for me. You will turn my mourning into dancing, my sorrow into true, pure joy. Help me to trust You in the meantime. Have Your way in me, Lord. Show me the hurts that I’ve worked so hard to hide. Show me a healthy way to process them. Give me a vision for what awaits me on the other side. Help me to discern the enemy’s lies so I can shut him down and trust You even more. I am determined to be free. And no one is more committed to my freedom than You are. With my hand in Yours, I will move forward in this process. Show me what’s true, and right, and good, and help me to saturate my mind with these things. I’m ready to be made new. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.

Life Reflection

  1. Earlier in the chapter I asked you what your surface laments are telling you. Spend more time here exploring that thought. When it comes to lament or complaint, to hurts and loss, where do your thoughts most typically go?
  2. Prayerfully ask God to help you identify the deeper loss here. When did that sense of loss first enter your story? Write down your thoughts.
  3. Look again at the personalized passage above (Psalm 126:5–6) and write out your own version of this passage. Ask God for the faith to believe that it’s true for you.
  4. What tends to be your way of dealing with your hurts (stuff and numb, deny and deflect, rehearse and rehash)? Be as honest as you’re able. How has this process impacted you? Are you ready for something new?
  5. Write out a prayer inviting God into those deep places you’ve not yet visited with Him. Ask Him to give you peace and courage, insight and wisdom. He will.