The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
PSALM 23:1
When a back injury left me confined to the couch, barely moving to avoid the pain, I felt as though the very breath of my Christianity had been sucked out of my lungs. I had no choice but to literally stop all my Christian activity and be. Stripped of my ability to act, I lay there feeling like I had nothing left to offer God.
As I struggled with this newfound stillness, I realized that for the first time in my life, I stopped drowning out the voice of my soul with the sound of relentless activity.
Then I heard a whisper in my heart: “Chris, your soul is not prospering.”
I was dumbstruck. “God, what do you mean, my soul isn’t prospering? Look at everything I’m doing and achieving for you! How could I not be prospering? The ministry is growing, my calendar is full, and we are having great success. I don’t understand how I could prosper any more for you.”
God’s response was shockingly clear: “Yes, Chris, I’m aware of everything that you are doing, and so is your body — which is why you’re lying there on the couch. I tried to get your attention numerous times to warn you about the path you were on, but you were too busy to listen.”
I had been expecting sympathy from God, but instead he was convicting me (albeit very lovingly) that there was a problem in my soul — apparently one that had been there for a long time.
As I lay there day in and day out, I eventually did receive a revelation about my soul. I began to realize that if God wanted to restore my soul, then it must have been injured somehow. Only things that have been damaged, faded, or defiled needed to be restored. And only then would my activities bring me the joy and fulfillment I so badly needed.
MOMENT OF REFLECTION
Is your soul at peace? What markers do you see in your life that let you know your soul is prospering or not prospering?